As many of us approach, or have already passed, our 22nd birthday, we often feel an inexplicable sadness like we have lost a sense of our youth. When did birthdays start feeling more like a funeral than a celebration of life? At age 21, life just felt so much more manageable. Anything past that age comes with a load of responsibility, unwanted change, and the dreaded time of "adulthood." However, we all need to stop mourning turning a year older because, after all, being 21 wasn’t all that great anyway...
1. You don’t have to wear that tacky plastic crown and sash for any birthdays in the future. Come on, Miss 21 and ready for fun? More like Miss 21 and done.
2. You’ll never have to experience that awful shot a friend bought you on your 21st birthday again that almost made you puke. Whether it was the Irish Car Bomb or a Prairie Fire, everyone experiences an awful shot on their 21st birthday.
3. Being 22 is great because your theme song for the entire year can be Taylor Swift’s “22.” The catchy “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22” lyrics will feel so relevant and meaningful for 365 days.
4. This might finally be the year that bouncers stop staring a little too closely at your ID. Maybe, if you’re really lucky, this will be the year they finally stop IDing you altogether.
5. After a whole year of partying as a 21-year-old, you can finally spend some well-deserved Friday nights at home without feeling like “the lamest 21-year-old ever.”
6. At this point, most, if not all, of your friends will be 21, so you all can finally go to the bars without having to sneak someone in the back door.
7. You realize that people take you so much more seriously as a 22 or 23-year-old because even if you don’t have your life together yet, you at least probably have a college degree to show.
8. You can look back and laugh at all of your mistakes as a 21-year-old since you are so much older and wiser now. You finally have acquired a taste for beer, cheap wine and Bloody Marys. You know now that tequila shots will never end well, or that you will regret those dance moves in the morning... which isn't to say you stop making these mistakes.
9. You are at the absolute perfect age right now. You aren’t even close to 30 yet, but you’re moving farther away from your embarrassing teenage years.
10. But let’s be real. You actually enjoyed wearing the plastic crown and feeling like a princess for a day, and you miss the thrill of “being ID'd” the first few months you bought alcohol.
The reality is that turning 22, 23 or 24 is not nearly as fun as your 21st birthday. In fact, birthdays have become more of a hassle than a celebration now, and they are definitely not a day you look forward to. However, life can’t stay a party forever. You’ve got to grow up, be an adult and move onto the next stage of your life. If you’re ever feeling sad, you still have the memories of how much fun you had during those sacred 365 days of being 21, and your liver and wallet will be so thankful the party is finally over. It's not the end of the world because, as Taylor Swift promises, everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22!
