Op-Ed - A quarter to old

Both 18 and 21 were rough, but this upcoming Tuesday will be the biggest one for me until I turn 40.

Twenty-five years old. A quarter of a century lived. Man I’m old.

In June I’ll be married. I never would have thought I’d be heading down the aisle so soon.

Five years from now, I’ll be 30, and looking to start a family with my wife. Many people I went to high school with are already married, having kids, buying homes, etc.

Unlike me, those people also all seem to have high paying jobs and clear career paths. I still haven’t figured out what I want to do when I grow up.

That’s probably why this birthday is particularly unsettling to me. Twenty-five brings with it the recently coined quarter-life crisis. It serves as the magic number for having everything in your life together.

Birthdays always wind up making me reflect on the decisions I’ve made and my life in general.

What have I accomplished? Where am I heading in the future? Am I the kind of person I want to be, and if not, how can I improve myself to get there?

To keep such questions at bay until next week, I’ve been trying to keep as busy as possible to distract myself.

During the week, I had articles to write and chores to do around my apartment. Wednesday night I saw Biffy Clyro, The Black Angels and Queens of the Stone Age at Northern Lights in Clifton Park. The terrific concert was my birthday present to me.

This weekend I have two more shows to attend. I also plan to see some friends and watch a bunch of movies.

I know there’s not a set timeline for things to happen, but at times it feels like there is. I guess things will “happen when they’re supposed to happen” as people love to tell me. What I am certain of, is there’s no way I’ll have my entire life figured out by Tuesday.

I’ll close this week’s column with some pertinent lyrics from Jimmy Eat World’s “Praise Chorus.”

“Are you gonna live your life wondering,

Standing in the back,

Looking around?

Are you gonna waste your time thinking,

How you’ve grown up,

Or how you missed out?

Things are never gonna be the way you want.

Where’s it gonna get you acting serious?

Things are never gonna be quite what you want,

Or even at 25,

You gotta start sometime.”

Resolution update:

Weight: 148 (-12)