Happy birthday to me

 The Quest against Time and the Fear of aging: 


"Age is a funny thing. When you're young, you can't wait to grow up, excited for each birthday, bragging about being older, all because it symbolizes the freedom of being able to do anything, to be anyone. Your fantasies ranged from astronauts to presidents, models to princes or princesses. Then years go by and you find yourself dreading the next year, finding yourself under the pressure of becoming someone, walking away from the belief that you can be anything or anyone you want to be. You put yourself in this four-sided box, always trying to be this idea of someone you should be. 

And instead, each approaching birthday feels like another reminder of how many years you've been on this planet and how little you've accomplished; another reminder of feeling unaccomplished and not as powerful as you thought you were; and you then find yourself racing against time to be somebody, do something, because then you'll be worthy, happy, and you'll have accomplished your purpose. 

It feels as if you have one shot at trying to have a good life , at being happy, and any mistake you make takes away from the already little time you have, so you never stop, you play it safe, and you fear making wrong choices. Before you know it, you find yourself doing nothing but running in the lane you were given.

I wonder, though, if we were never given the time to define our happiness, the time to choose our purpose, and the time to shape ourselves, reflecting and growing through our mistakes, bad choices, and failures, can we really stand at the end of our road and say we are happy? Can we really say we are successful? After all, we are unaware of what our idea of happiness or even success looks like.

The quest against time and the fear of aging is ironic in that way; it pushes you to run your entire life, and by the time you can't run anymore, start to slow down and look around you, you find yourself in unfamiliar places, not knowing what you're doing there; you've run for so long without stopping that it's unclear why you even started the race.

So my advice to you, Gen Z, is to never forget that life isn't always about the destination, so don't lose yourself focused only on running. 

Change lanes, change them again, appreciate the people around you, stop and look back and be proud of how far you have come, feel the wind rushing across your face. Don't just run around your hurdles, take your time in learning to jump them, because in the end, your life will not be just about who you are or what you have. It will be about the times you fell and it will be about the times you got up. It will be about that conversation you had with a stranger you once met or a friend you have known for a long time. It's about the times you loved and the times you got your heart broken. It's about the good and bad memories you hold. It takes time to become who you are and have what you have, and that time is what makes your life meaningful.


From yours truly,

The Gen Z blogger❤

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