With each birthday, we tend to reflect on many things. Does this mean I'm old? I'm now 23, is that still considered early 20s? Have I changed since my last birthday? Do I feel any older?
Today is my 23rd birthday and these are some thoughts that have been passing through my mind. Though I don't physically feel any older nor do I look any older than I did yesterday, I am definitely older and wiser today. I may not have thought the same thing on my 22nd or 21st birthdays (though the only thing I was worried about on my 21st was having my first legal drink).
But reflecting back on this past year, I couldn't believe how far I've come. This time last year, I had just graduated from college and didn't have a job. My plan for the summer was to take care of my youngest sister while looking for a job.
On my 23rd birthday today, I look back and see that I had a very successful experience working as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper where I believe I learned more than I did in college. While there I wrote many, many stories and met and interviewed so many interesting people; I even got to sit in on a conversation between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. Now I have a new job as an editor of an online news source in Lower Bucks County, PA.
So what does all of this mean?
It means that one year can make no difference and it can make all the difference.
I think that one year in a life can be full of experience and learning experiences that are truly influential. Whereas a year can be like any other year sometimes. I don't think that you automatically become older and wiser with each birthday...for some people it can take several birthdays or a lifetime.
Now I went into my first job with the mentality that I need to learn and experience as much as possible to set myself up for a second job and growing my career. That I think has a lot to do with having a fruitful and mind-expanding year.
If you asked me this time last year what I learned in a year, I would have probably said that people you think are your friends may very well not be. I would have said that it takes a conflict to learn people's true personalities.While those were valuable and tough lessons to learn, I think the things I've learned this year have made me an overall smarter and wiser person. With that, my plan for the next year is to keep an open mind to continue to learn.
Growing one year older means that you're just one year older; your birthday is not an automatic rite of passage to being wiser. The way you spend your 365 days between your birthdays determines whether you become a wiser person.
xoxo Nickie
