I SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE WANTING TO BE OLDER.

WE SPEND HALF OUR LIVES WANTING TO BE OLDER… AND THE OTHER HALF WISHING WE COULD GO BACK. When I was a kid, getting older felt like the entire point. Every age came with something I was convinced would finally make life better. At 6, I wanted to be 10 because 10-year-olds were the big kids. At 10, I wanted to be 13 because being a teenager sounded like the coolest thing in the world. At 13, I wanted to be 16 because I wanted to drive. At 16, I wanted to be 18 because then I’d officially be an adult. At 18, I wanted to be 21 because surely THAT was when real life started. And somewhere along the way, the reason I wanted to get older changed. 🧡 FIRST, GETTING OLDER MEANT FREEDOM When you’re a kid, adulthood looks incredible. Nobody gives you a bedtime. Nobody tells you when you can have dessert. You can drive wherever you want. You have your own money. Your own place. Your own life. We couldn’t understand why adults were always telling us not to grow up too fast. What did they know? We had places to be. ⏩ THEN, GETTING OLDER BECAME A DEADLINE By my 20s, I wasn’t excited about getting older because of what I’d be allowed to do. I was excited because I kept assuming the next version of me would finally have everything figured out. Maybe by 25 I’ll know what I’m doing. Maybe by 30 I’ll feel like a real adult. Maybe the career will make sense. Maybe I’ll have enough money. Maybe I’ll stop comparing myself to everyone else. Maybe I’ll finally become the person I thought I was supposed to become. And then you reach those ages and realize something nobody really tells you: You still feel like you. 🕰️ AND THEN SOMETHING FLIPS Eventually you stop counting the years until you’re older. And start wondering where all the years went. Birthdays used to mean gaining something. Another privilege. Another little piece of independence. Another step toward the mysterious world of adulthood. Then one day somebody tells you something happened 15 years ago and your immediate reaction is: “No it didn’t.” Then you do the math. Oh. Yeah. It did. 🏡 SUDDENLY, THE THINGS YOU WANTED TO ESCAPE LOOK PRETTY GOOD Being told to come inside because the streetlights came on. Sitting in the back seat while somebody else worried about where you were going. Summer vacation feeling impossibly long. Your biggest financial decision being what you were going to spend $10 on. Calling your friend and asking one of the greatest questions ever spoken: “Can you come outside?” We were so busy imagining the freedom waiting for us that we couldn’t understand the freedom we already had. ❤️ I DON’T ACTUALLY WANT TO START MY LIFE OVER I don’t want to erase everything that’s happened since I was a kid. There are people I wouldn’t know. Experiences I wouldn’t have had. Parts of myself I hadn’t discovered yet. But would I go back for one day? Absolutely. I’d ride my bike around the neighborhood. I’d watch cartoons without looking at another screen. I’d eat something incredibly unhealthy without checking the calories. I’d sit in my childhood bedroom. I’d find my friends. And I wouldn’t tell that kid anything about what’s coming. I wouldn’t give him winning lottery numbers or warn him about mistakes or tell him which decisions to make. I’d just tell him to slow down. Because he’s going to spend years saying: “I can’t wait until…” And eventually he’s going to understand why all those adults kept looking at him and saying: “Don’t grow up too fast.” Turns out they weren’t trying to ruin our fun. They had just already been where we were going. And they knew we’d miss where we’d been. Maybe growing up isn’t about leaving that kid behind anyway. Maybe we’re all still carrying them around with us. I’m 35 now. And somewhere inside me is still that 10-year-old kid who couldn’t wait to grow up. Funny thing is… I’d give almost anything to sit next to him for a little while. What age would you go back to for one day? #StillThatKid #90sKids #Millennials #Nostalgia #GrowingUp