Flashback 25 years: It's December 9th, 1988 and John & Wilma Friesen, a young couple of only 31 and 26 are rushing to the hospital to embark on what will be the greatest adventure they have ever known... Ok, so maybe it wasn't that dramatic. The true story, or so I'm told, is that they checked in to the hospital and went through pre-op procedures the night before, woke up, and a couple hours later there I was. The most interesting part was when they called my four year old brother... he hung up when they told him I was a girl. I like my version better!
So, I'm officially 25 years old. Only one year shy of the age my mother was when she welcomed her second child. Now normally, after the age of 18 (or 19 in some Provinces) birthdays tend to come and go without any big "to-do", but for someone like me (who may have the slightest tendency to be a teensy bit melodramatic) 25 feels huge. I'm a quarter century... one day I'm going to tell my grandchildren that I'm older than WIFI... Hell I'm older than the internet!
While I can fully accept the fact that being 25 does not in actuality make me old, I feel as though I should have accomplished a great deal more than I've managed to do. And so, due to my minor age induced anxiety attack (is 25 too young for an ulcer?), I decided to make 25 my best year yet!
Last year, shortly before my 24th birthday, I packed up and moved across the country to live with my best friend. It has been a year filled with trials and tribulations, laughter and tears, loves and heartbreaks, and nights I didn't remember with friends I'll never forget. The difference a year has made in my life is astounding. I was once so afraid of change that the mere thought of something as simple as changing jobs was enough to bring me to tears. Now the thought that the future is unknown is exhilarating rather than debilitating. In the past year I have learned to open myself up to new experiences, and new people, and most importantly I have learned to take chances while both loving and trusting in myself. Ernest Hemingway once wrote "Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.". Some may call that macabre, however I find it inspires me to live life to the fullest.
Therefore, with all of these epiphanies in mind, I have decided to make "25" a year of firsts. Every week from today until my 26th Birthday, I am going to see/taste/experience something for the first time. 52 firsts! Now I'm sure some will be as simple as a food I've never tried, or a beach I've never been to, but I can't exactly go skydiving and bungee jumping every other week (believe me those are on the list). For example, for my first week, I decided to start this blog. Yes, I already had a blog but I never truly put any effort into it. Will I continue to remain up to date with this blog year round? I don't know... but it's something I've never tried so I'll give it a shot.
At the end of this year I'm hoping to have had amazing experiences amidst the awful ones, but I know that I will have grown. And that to me is an accomplishment... Let's just hope it can keep me occupied enough not to worry about turning 26!!!
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