What I Have Learned - Take Fifteen

I have learned that age is just a number, and sometimes just an excuse.

Perhaps my life has jaded the way I look at age. I started college at sixteen. I was married at eighteen and had my first child at twenty. I've owned a home my entire adult life, and been in a serious relationship for as long as I can remember. Okay, I get it, I am probably not the norm. In fact, I can look at some twenty year olds and think 'Oh, please....please mandate birth control for these people'.

So age has always just been a number to me. I find it hard to define where one's life should be, because I can't relate to it from experience. But then I look at some of the people I know, and see how age doesn't necessarily indicate anything.

I see some people who have just entered the 30 mark. They are bright, successful, mature, and recognized as standing members of the community. I see some who are in their twenties and are focused and thriving. Then I see some who have entered their 30s and are still living without a care in the world, moving from place to place, job to job. And some people who are in their twenties who you just shake your head at.

The second part of what I continually see is age being used as an excuse. I see parents make excuses for their child's behavior; 'he is only three, she is only six, he is thirteen-what do you expect'. Frankly, it sickens me. Of course there are times when age is truly a considerations for behavior, such as a three year old sitting quietly through a Broadway play - which is not going to happen. But most of the time, they are just excuses. And sadly, parents are not the only ones I see using age as a crutch.

I hear people all the time say 'well, I am only in my mid-twenties', as if this is an excuse for their immaturity or lack of having their life together. I want to ask them if a student who just completed medical school would sound the same saying that. Because let's face it, four years of college followed by four years of medical school would put that average person at 26. The med student has been dedicated and focused, their life clearly on track - and they are the same age. So, what exactly is the excuse?

I hate excuses in general, but even more so when it is something as lame as using your age as that excuse. Why in the world would you allow something like that to define you? You fit in a certain generation so you share an ADD label? You haven't hit thirty and that is when the 'real growing up' happens? Oh please...

Age IS just a number. Some people thrive with that, others use it as a crutch. Do you really want to let how many years you have been on this Earth be the defining factor of who you are? And honestly, at some point, making excuses for yourself just gets old. Grow up - and by that, I don't mean have another birthday.