Words to Live By... As a 23 year old

Breathe, my friend. You are not old, you are YOUNG.
You are not a mess, you are NORMAL. 
Extraordinary, perhaps.
In the blink of an eye, your life will change.
And it will continue to change for decades to come.
Enjoy it, embrace it... be grateful for the ride.
You are not old, you are young.
And faith will get you everywhere.
Just you wait.
-Abby Larson, Style Me Pretty

First things first. If you don't regularly follow The Everygirl, do so immediately. Now, to the point of my post. This week, it has been wedding week on The Everygirl, so naturally they interviewed Abby Larson, founder of Style Me Pretty. In her interview, she probably gave some of the most needed advice to 23 year old girls... or really anyone at any age for that matter, in the quote above. 

On more than one occasion (just last night in fact), my friends and I have discussed our frustrations with where we are in our lives, our hopes to do more, our dreams to be successful. Don't get me wrong, I've had - and still have - a wonderful and charmed life, and have had so many opportunities to do amazing things. I've loved my life, and I'm only 23 years deep. But my entire life has been mapped out until a year ago. From the time you're 3 years old until you're 22, you go to school. You know you'll get into college. You go through the best four years of your life with some of the most fantastic friends, having new experiences and forming lasting relationships. What happened after college was something we tried our hardest not to think about because it was scary and unknown, and definitely NOT mapped out. 

So upon graduation, you're thrown out into the real world. The world says "alright, you've lived this great life so far, now try and make it on your own. Get a job, pay your bills, still maintain a social life, make new friends, live in a new city, FIGURE IT OUT." And it is all very wearing, especially for those of us who haven't figured it out. I am one of those people. I look around at the girls whose blogs I follow and find them all to be so very accomplished at such a young age, doing cool things, meeting cool people, and enjoying themselves. It's hard not to get down on myself when I think about how I've been out of college for a year and still don't have a full-time-benefit-and-salary-paying job. But Abby's advice is exactly what I need to hear and remind myself every day. I don't have to figure it out now. I have time - and a lot of it. I'm not really that much of a mess - I can at least pay my bills and have a job (at the moment). Things will change quickly, wonderfully, and I just have to believe it will all work out. Because it will. Thanks for listening to my rant :)

**Thanks to Bethany for passing this quote onto me. Exactly what I needed :)