Friday 22 April

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Life as a young adult can seem very scary. There’s so many things to think about: degrees, financial life, the next steps. The societal pressure put on those aged 18-25, even aged 30, isn’t talked about enough. We become fixated on the idea that we should have everything figured out by the age of 21. That is not the case at all.

How many 20-whatever-year-olds have you asked if they have their life together and they reply with “absolutely yes 100%”? Right, not many.

What also is something that isn’t talked about enough within our age group is pressure we put on ourselves amongst ourselves. We go to universities and succumb to the pressure of drinking and socials. Somehow we have made up in our minds that in order to make friends we have to get black-out drunk each night of Freshers’ and join sports societies and be really social. As much as this could be redeemed as true at the very start of university, and yes it helps if you do these things, there should be no pressure to do so.

At the age of 18, 19, 22, whatever, we believe, and older people believe for us, that we should be partying and drinking and enjoying life “because we’re young”. I dislike this ideology, because not everyone enjoys that.

But I’m here to say that at this age, we can find a balance. Moving cities or even countries for gap years or university degrees is daunting, and also a time to “find ourselves” and understand what it is we want out of life. It is a time to perhaps start journaling and gratitude – something which I have really found connected to at the moment and puts my mind and life into perspective and focus on the good rather than the calories I consume each day and the calories I burn in compensation. You can have both lives. In fact, this applies to any age. You can decide to take care of your body and focus on you, with a healthy, “clean” lifestyle and diet, whilst also enjoying nights out with your friends. A healthy lifestyle, with workouts and clean eating every day isn’t truly healthy unless you find balance with enjoying the dinners out with friends, and the ordering in late-night pizza.

Life is about balance, not restriction nor having to choose one life over the other. You can do both. And this often leads to more stable daily routines and mindsets. *By no means am I saying you have to do both, nor am I saying you have to enjoy drinking with friends, I am rawly saying the truth that “healthy” isn’t “healthy” without nights or days off.*

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So, enjoy life while it’s there. You really don’t know what tomorrow holds for you. Take each day one day at a time and find the good in each life and enjoy it 🙂

❤ Pepetoe love.