1. Is everybody hanging out without me, or is this just what life becomes?
No matter how amicable or social you once were, it’s hard to keep the connections tight. Everything is relegated to the weekends. The people we used to see everyday, we talk to once a week if we’re lucky. Where’d everybody go?
2. Should I travel more?
YOLO and FOMO have probably given airline companies extravagant profit margins after the youth picked up these two concepts. “You only live once” and “fear of missing out” makes me feel like my death is extremely imminent, and I should go do things they did in the “Bucket List” RIGHT NOW. I would argue that RELATIVELY young people are the most susceptible to social comparison (because we don’t know that it doesn’t matter yet). That plus our innate curiosity makes us want to explore everything. And there are only so many years in my twenties. 10 to be exact. And almost 6 are gone. I better go to Africa soon.
3. Am I No Longer Young and Beautiful?
Things that never used to hurt suddenly require Bengay. The gut is harder to get rid of. There is more of a feeling of heaviness as the lightless of youth falls away. We’re supposed to have $______, supposed to have these credentials, supposed to work this many hours, supposed to get married eventually… I guess you’re not that young anymore!
4. Do I love what I’m doing?
Mid twenties is the last call for shots. If you stay on this train, you know you’re probably going all the way. All the other potential careers beckon you to a life potentially more exciting, but a lot riskier as well. Is this what you want to spend your life doing? What excites you? And in a related topic…
5. Is he/she the one?
In “End of Watch”, Jake Gyllenhal doesn’t know whether or not to get married and his BFF Mexican partner said something like “I took my girl to prom, nailed it, and right after that I proposed. How did I know if she was the one? My dad asked me if I could live without her and I said yes. And that’s how I knew.”
Ultimately, all of this merely contributes to the one simple question that subsumes everything else.
6. Am I living the life that I want to live?
Credit: ASTON TSUI
