Wednesday, December 4, 2013

20 Something Blogs...Good or Bad?

I don’t know about you, but lately I have been BOMBARDED by blogs about 20-somethings. They all have similar titles… 20 things twenty somethings should do… or not do… or know... or accomplish. Literally, I cannot get on facebook or twitter without seeing their headlines, each of them drawing me in. I’m particularly entrapped by the ones that explain things YOU KNOW HOW TO DO while in your twenties. Sometimes these lists can affirm you. I often feel myself puffing up when I come across a list that I have almost mastered. But, more often than not, the lists show things that I have not accomplished, seen, or know. Then the panic sets in…WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?

That internal question then leads down a slippery slope that ends with me feeling like a failure. Sure, some of the items like, “know how to parallel park”, aren’t too heartbreaking to not have mastered. (P.S. I have not been able to nor do I ever foresee myself being able to parallel park. Let’s hope I never live in a large city.) But, there are the other accomplishments that “I should” have mastered that never even crossed my mind. I see the tasks a twenty something should have mastered and I feel small. I feel behind on the curve. I feel like what I’m doing isn’t up to par with what my twenty something friends are accomplishing.

This is not me saying that “20 something” blogs are bad. I am saying that letting others make a list for your life can be harmful. The twenty something lists can be fun as well as act as a sort of guide but should never be seen as a checklist for life. I believe that we are all placed on a path and my journey is different than my twenty something peers. Not only is my journey different, but so are my talents, weaknesses, and dreams. So instead of panicking that we aren’t falling in line with what twenty somethings should be doing, we should celebrate what we have done and what we will do (even if it doesn’t include parallel parking).