This one's for you, liver.
Four years ago I would have started my night by spending thirty minutes curling my long hair, followed by another twenty minutes of painting my face as if to cover up what I really looked like. Then I would have chosen the tightest jeans I owned, paired with a low cut top to emphasize that I was in college, newly 21, and looking to adventure and experience all that this new adult world had to offer. I would go out to the bars with my girlfriends on the weekend, and order what seemed like an endless amount of vodka red bull's. I would dance my @$$ off, sing at the top of my lungs, and let the stress from the week before fade away.
At the end of the night I would return home to brush out the curls I had worked so hard to perfect, take off the pounds of make up I wore, slip into sweatpants and a tee-shirt, throw my hair into a bun, and slide into my bed just after popping an ibuprofen to get a head start at beating the hangover that I was bound to have the next morning.
The next morning I would wake up to a pounding head, sun that was too bright in my eyes, a vague recognition of the events from the night before, and an inbox of text messages from my best friends-accompanied by a few numbers without names that I must have given out to random strangers that would soon be deleted never to be responded too. I would go about the days activities as if the world wasn't spinning by, and I didn't feel as if I needed to sleep for the next twenty-four hours.
This was my weekend trend for three years. This is a trend that many college-age students live, and die for. I made some of the best memories of my life on weekends just like these, and made some of the greatest friends I could ask for. But, there comes a time in everyone's life when this lifestyle is no longer attainable. You have to start focusing on the future, on things that will lead to a stable and happy life. You have to take chances and jump head first into the unknown to move forward in your own life. You eventually have to leave the weekends of drinking and dancing behind.
Those four years are some of the most memorable of my life, but forgive me when I say that's who I used to be. I have lost friends, changed interests, and also gained a lot of happiness since leaving this life behind. Now my weekends are filled with family, work, studying, time for myself, naps, and yes-the occasional night out drinking, just like the good old days. I am happier, healthier, and feel more myself.
To the friends I have gained since this transition, thank you for accepting me for who I am now.
To the friends I have lost since this transition, the memories I have with you are some of my fondest, I hope your life is happy, and I will always be here for you, but that is who I used to be- and I love who I am now.
