Thursday 14 January 2016

25

On Saturday, I'm turning 25.
 
That's a quarter of a century (as I keep getting told by my relatives!)
 
I'm not usually one to reflect & take time to look back over my life, but I was lying in bed last night & was thinking how different my life is now, to how I thought it would be.
 
When I was in Secondary school, I was apart of a group of 4 girls & we were best friends. We still are best friends in fact but I was the one in the group that they all said would be married & would have kids first (by about the time I was 21, which seemed scarily old to us back then!) This to me now seems crazy, as I was so not ready for kids or marriage at that age & still nowhere near that now. Funnily enough, one of my girls is now married & about to buy a house so we definitely guessed wrong!
 
When I was 16, I remember having the best birthday. To be fair, all have mine have been amazing, but looking back at that one, just brings back the happiest of memories. My parents hired me a coach & we took a group of my friends to West Wittering beach. We had my ipod docking station playing full blast the whole way there & back & spent the majority of the time in the coach as it was so cold on the beach. We just had time for a few photos, then it was back to eating Colin the Caterpillar Cake in the safety of the coach! At the time, I'd just started seeing my first boyfriend (we went to an all girls school so it was difficult to meet boys!) & I remember him being really annoyed that he couldn't come on the outing, despite it being organised for months & it was girls only.. duh!
 
My 18th, 19th & 20th years were a blur of parties, going out & being the most social person I could be. I was also feeling a bit lost as the majority of my friends headed off to uni after college & I was left in our small hometown, working my way up into the world. I used to look back at that time & wonder if I'd made a mistake not going to uni, but I totally stand by my decision now. Besides, I still got to see the girls when they came home at weekends & I made more friends from work. I'm sure uni would have opened a few more doors for me, but I was quite content & never really excelled in any particular subject that was worth me spending thousands of pounds studying.
 
& now we come to the past few years, where I actually feel like I haven't got much to say about them. I'm still in the same job, living in the same house with my parents & still with the same man I met when I was 21. Having the same things in my life doesn't upset me though. I'm quite an anxious person & change to me isn't usually a good thing. As my 25th year approaches on this planet, I'm starting to feel that I need to push myself, not that I particularly want too. However, this year will be full of changes, whether I like it or not.
 
James finishes uni in May / June time & are looking to move in together. All these years that I've been working & saving have been building up to this year, so I'm hugely excited to be sharing this with him. After 3 years of being long distance with him living in Gloucester, we can finally start our lives together. If I'm honest, I'm terrified but excited for our adventure.
 
So this year I've decided to embrace life. I've been quietly sitting letting it pass me by for too many years & although that's ok with me, it isn't in the long run. If I want to see a show, I'll book it. If I'm feeling adventurous & want to go on a day out, I'll plan it. If I want to meet up with an old friend, I'll organise it.

And you know why?

Because life's too short to say "I'll do it tomorrow."

 

17 comments:

  1. Love you Sweetheart and have a wonderful day tomorrow. Your birthday celebrations have always brightened up January. AML Mew xxx

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  2. Happy Birthday lovely lady! I hope that you're having a wonderful day so far, you deserve it! I wish that I could celebrate with you! Sending lots of love & special birthday wishes your way :).

    I will be turning 28 a week today! It's absolutely crazy how fast time is going! Love & hugs xxxx

    www.elsfashionfix.co.uk

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    1. Oh sweetie! Happy birthday for then! Hope you have an amazing time. I've always wished we lived closer so we could celebrate together, would be such fun.

      Lots of love to you xxxx <3

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  3. I turned 25 at the end of last year and it really scared me too haha. I remember having the same conversation with my friends about how old we were gonna get married/have kids. I hope you have a lovely birthday hun

    Rachel xx
    http://www.thedailyluxe.net

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    1. Thankyou so much babe. That is honestly one thing that makes me feel better is knowing I'm not the only one who gets older by the day, as silly as that sounds! xx

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  4. Sounds like you have the right idea hun, I don't like change either and my birthdays just seem to keep rushing by, but I hope you have lovely celebrations and you can achieve what you want xxx

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  5. This is such a lovely and brave post babe, I hope you had a really lovely birthday!

    Lucy x- Yellowicing

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  6. I love this post and Happy Birthday! :) xx

    www.adaliascloset.blogspot.co.uk

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  7. Happy 25th birthday! I completely understand how you feel. I can be a little weird to realize that you're getting older. I, myself am getting married next year in 2017 and I've been with my fiancé for five years, he's starting to look older to me! It's not a bad thing but it is strange. Growing up is scary but it's also really beautiful. Not everyone gets the opportunity to age, and I realize that now. I loved reading this because I sometimes felt like I was the only one feeling shocked by getting older!

    xx Belle

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    1. Awwh sweetie I'm so happy for you, congrats on getting married next year! It is scary, but you're so right, some people don't get the chance to live the life they want & getting older is just a natural step we all have to go through. <3 xxx

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  8. A very happy belated birthday to you Cat! I hope turning 25 saw all the happiness and laughter for you; you seem like the sweetest person and deserve the absolute best in life :) I know exactly what you mean about change. It's so great you're moving in with your boyfriend and I so hope 2016 is the best year for you <3

    I really related so much to what you wrote! I'm nearly 26 (which I can't believe haha) and I'm at that stage in life where this year is bringing about an exciting change, but this moment in time I keep wondering what the hell I'm doing with my life. I'm stuck in the hometown I hate doing admin jobs I hate in a house I hate (I think my negativity doesn't help :D) but am just trying to focus on my dreams and ignore the people that put them down, as we just need to live for us and do what we want in our lives. I love your attitude of embracing life, it's so encouraging and I totally agree with you 100% that we should just do these things as tomorrow won't wait xo

    Sophie | soinspo

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    1. Sweetie, your comment has just made my day. Thankyou for taking the time to write it.

      I totally agree with you. It's so difficult to focus on positive things when everything you do, you don't enjoy but it's all about finding things you love. (Which is so much easier said than done)

      I really hope everything works out for you & you find a job you love & house you want to live in. <3 xxx

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  9. Inspiring blog post. Much the same attitude I now have and embrace. Life's too short for what ifs. Good for you xx

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