Dear People In Their Mid-20s

An open letter from a disgruntled nearly-twenty-six year old

Dear, My fellow mid-twenty-somethings…

Just a quick question: Does anyone know what we’re meant to be doing?

Are we meant to be buying a house or at least saving for one? Or are we meant to be backpacking around South America?

Are we meant to be honing down on our careers? Or are we meant to be in grad school?

Are we meant to be looking for the one? Or are we meant to be dating and meeting lots of new people?

Are we meant to be wrapping up our time in the city? Or are we meant to still have the energy for the fast life?

Oh Lord, are we meant to be having kids? Or are we meant to still be feeling like kids ourselves?

Are we meant to be drinking a dry Merlot now? Or are we meant to be young enough to still enjoy sparkling Rosé?

Are we meant to have everything figured out by now? Or are we meant to just be enjoying the ride?

My fellow mid-twenty-somethings, I’m feeling confused. Surely I’m not the only one? I’m a couple of months away from turning twenty six, but I swear only a heartbeat ago I was twenty four. The pandemic has robbed me of one of the critical years where I should be trying new things and figuring things out. And instead, as it has for most people, this past year has been a bust. It’s felt like a waste of precious time. I’m watching the best time of my life drain away with the shower water stained pink from my last ditch attempt at feeling youthful; a head of bubblegum pink hair.

Oh, my fellow mid-twenty-something friends, can any of you tell me why I thought I could still pull it off? And why, despite it being semi-permanent, it doesn’t seem to be washing out? Please pray for me.

Anyway, look; I definitely do not have the answers right now. I do know this much though: I don’t think our lives are meant to look like anything in particular, and they’re definitely not meant to look like anyone else’s. Wherever you are in life, it’s okay. Don’t define your happiness based on what other people are doing, or what you feel like you should be doing.

I know many of us are feeling a bitterness, a resentfulness, that we’ve lost an entire year of our lives to the pandemic; but we are so very lucky that, hopefully, we have many more years to come. Rather than feeling as though Covid has taken away what should have been the best season of our lives; let’s look ahead to the next season. There’s no reason why we can’t make it the best; whether that means partying or settling down or studying or travelling, or whatever your path leads you to. There’s no right or wrong.

The best is yet to come, friends. I truly believe it.