To The Girl Who Is Planning For 31 At 21, Slow Down

I am a planner. An unorganized planner, but a planner nonetheless. I even plan when I want to be spontaneous, and trust me, I know that that defeats the entire purpose, but I can’t help but want to be in full control at all times.

As I’ve gotten older and life has laughed in my face at the plans I’ve made for myself, I’ve learned to live a little freer but it’s still a work in progress. I still stress myself out about next month's events, and what I have written in my calendar for the end of next week. It’s hard for me to live life not having some sort of structure to my schedule.

I like to plan for the next weekend on the Sunday before. I like to know the restaurant so I can plan what kind of attire to wear. I like to know exactly what I’m doing, and it’s probably the most unhealthy aspect of my life.

I. Stay. Stressed. Out.

I am 21, and because I’m single, I think that I’ll end up alone and won’t get to put crown molding… in my yellow house… that my five kids and three dogs run around in… Yes, I know that’s crazy and that I am looking way too far into the future.

News flash, I have time. You have time. We don’t have to be fully prepared for the next ten years while we are in our twenties. No one expects you to either, and if they do they obviously don’t have their priorities for you in order.

Live in the now. Text your friends the day of and take a surprise trip somewhere. If you get asked on a date, go. Stop wasting the moments that are happening right now because you are so consumed by what's to come.

When you’re married you’ll be married forever, or at least that’s the goal. When you have kids, you’ll be a parent forever, and worrying about that is not your responsibility when you’re still deciding what classes to take next semester.

Act your age. You only get to be where you are in life right now once. You can never get this moment back, and I guarantee that you don’t want to be that mom who is living through their children because she tried to grow up too fast.

You don’t have to have it all together right now. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost hours of sleep because I’m worried about where I’m going after graduation, what city I’ll end up in, and if I’ll ever find the man of my dreams.

I just need to focus on what’s in front of me. I need to study for my exams, do my homework, and if I put my best foot forward hopefully it will work out in my favor. Sometimes I worry so much about the future, I lose sight of what’s going on right now.

Maybe I just wrote this for myself, to see it in writing, and to remind me that I need to embrace my life and the stage that it’s in, but hopefully some girl somewhere will see this and it will inspire her to just stop and take a minute to enjoy her life.