My birthday is tomorrow and I'm tuning 23. Unlike a lot of other 23-year-olds who are still living at home, in school, and are possibly only working a full-time job, I moved out and live in an apartment with my boyfriend, work a full-time job, and recently realized that I act like I'm 35 years old and married!

Some people might call me responsible, or ahead of the game, but the recent epiphany that I had honestly made me freak out! I don't see my friends nearly enough, spend way too much time at work and at the gym, and am glued to my boyfriend. I am completely happy with my life and where it is going, but I was hit by a wall the told me I am rushing way too quickly into the future.

I have a friend from work that is 33 and is basically living the same life as me currently. 10 years older than me and she and I have almost the same life. This really sunk in about a week ago and I decided I need to sloooooow dowwwwn. So rather than letting myself go into panic mode and throw away everything I have, I have decided to be proactive in making sure I don't rush away my life and set myself up for an ACTUAL mid-life crisis later on. So here is what I am actively trying to do:

1. Spend more time with friends. I love spending time with my boyfriend, but like I said, I don't need to act like we're 35 and married. With that, I vowed to spend at least 1 night out with JUST my friends every weekend. This can be girls and guys, but no boyfriend. Why? Well because for one we need bonding time and because I met him my senior year of college, so in order to act like my age, I need (and want) to be hanging out with my friends like we used t more often.

2. Think about every day like it can change in a second. I am a big planner, sometimes by fault, so I tend to get caught up in planning so much for my future that I never stop and consider if it's a future I would actually enjoy. I have my been trying to remind myself that I may think I know everything I plan to do and become, but that I really don't have a clue what the future holds for me. I need to embrace that.

3. Spend more time with my family (and my pets). I never want to take my time with them for granted, so I need to make sure I'm around as much as possible. They make me happy and crazy and feel like a kid again so I need them. Very much so.

4. Spend more time alone. I often forget how much I enjoy being alone. Staying home alone all night listening to music, singing, or running errands all day alone, singing (haha). I love my own company! and I never want to lose that part of me. So even though I live with my boyfriend and want to spend time with him, my family, and my friends, spend time and work and at the gym, I need to continually put more effort into doing things alone and just being alone when I could just as easily spend my time out with others.

Hopefully by 24 (God help me...) I won't be so scared to age another year. But for now, I need to work every day to make sure I'm with the ones I love and actively spend time doing and thinking about the things I love.