When I thought of that I immediately cringed, but then realized it’s truth. While I was a teenager I hated it, wanted to be an adult when I could make my own decisions and do grown up things. I wouldn’t have to worry about teen antics, doing well on a test or determine the angle of the triangle simply to get out of grade ten.
At the time of being a teenager I was balancing being in a new school, finding then having a job, balancing good grades with finding myself and planning my future. It was overwhelming, at the time. And now it all seems so simple.
Now it seems there’s no time to find oneself, between finding matching socks and car parts that are out of stock. Being in love and romantic now consists of simply offering to do the laundry or automatically filling the Q-Tip can and changing the toilet paper when the roll is empty. It’s the little things that create spark or frustration. When I was a teenager everything seemed so huge – the first kiss, holding someone’s hand, do I go to prom or protest it?
I continue to sympathize with teens as they learn the importance of higher education, budgets and love as equally as I admire their innocence and perspectives.
Then I have to wonder if in thirty years (give or take a few), will I look back at the age I’m at now and think now is such a simple, wonderful time. Will I reflect on my current now as the best time of my life when I’m struggling with my son, trying to carve out time with my husband that doesn’t consist of cleaning the house for guests, or time to watch a television show we only watch to unwind and be in the same room together.
It really is all about perspective, understanding and embracing that time is passing and many aren’t as luck as we are to be living and experiencing right now.
Any age, I guess, is the best age as long as you are not taking it so seriously.