remember your wellies

I don’t think twenty seven was ever an age I contemplated when I was younger. I didn’t ever imagine myself at twenty seven. My twelve year old self was primarily concerned with thirteen. My fourteen year old self was concerned with sixteen and my eighteen year old self wanted to be twenty one.

Twenty seven isn’t a sexy age. It’s closer to thirty than twenty. Sometimes it’s grown up and sometimes it feels like twenty all over again – contemplating what to do in life, how to make a difference and where the journey will lead.

I dreaded twenty six. It felt old and outdated, over the hill of twenty five. Twenty seven, though, feels good. Yes, it’s an older age but my twenty sixth year was pretty transformative and I can’t wait to see what twenty seven may hold.

In my twenty sixth year I learned to have a lot more grace for myself. I look at how hard I judged and criticized my twenty year old self and am so grateful that my twenty six year old self has learned grace. In my twenty sixth year I experienced this country. Travel was a daily part of my existence, hiking, surfing and backpacking were regular activities for me. Being away from nature for extended periods of time became unbearable for me in my twenty sixth year. I finally admitted to myself that my soul comes alive in nature and without regular visits a part of me becomes cold.

I was honest about anxiety and its hold on my life in my twenty sixth year. It’s a battle, a war, and it continues on but it wasn’t until my twenty sixth year that I was honest with it and ready to face it and tackle it. I changed jobs in my twenty sixth year. I stepped out of what was comfortable and took on a new challenge. It’s unknown and scary but a change I’m glad I made.

Here’s to twenty seven. There is no celebrated milestone for this year, no flashy party. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “Happy 27th Birthday” card in the store. Twenty seven feels so good. No expectations come for twenty seven and that is refreshing.