"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" -Satchel Paige

As a nineteen-year-old junior in college, it's not uncommon for me to hear, "you're too young." Of course, I am too young. I'm too young to go to the bars with my friends, too young to know any better, too young to be in love, too young to know what I want with my life, the list goes on and on. Here's the truth, yes, I am too young to go out and have a nice, cold beer after a grueling exam, but I'm not too young in regard to the other things. Whose place is it to say that you're too young for anything? Nobody has lived the life you have or experienced the things you have already in your young life. Age is measured by the year on your I.D., nothing else. Your life and experience as an individual are based on your experiences, growth, and level of maturity that develop over the course of your life.

Take note of the fifty, sixty, and seventy-year-olds in your life who have the heart and spirit of a twelve-year-old. Then, look at the opposite end of the spectrum, I can think of a handful of old, ragged souls who have barely entered their twenties yet. Your capacity to live, love, and make decisions shouldn't be based upon your age in years. It isn't fair for anyone to hold you to a certain standard or expectation for your age either, because odds are, you'll surpass their expectations and keep moving forward the way you were made to. Your vertical or horizontal drivers license doesn't determine your worth, your ability to love, your ability to make good, or bad decisions, and it certainly can't determine the direction your life is going.

The thing that irks me the most about hearing how young I am is that 80 percent of the people who are offering advice and making numerous comments about it haven't ever left Small Town, USA, or known anything different from their mellow, routine-filled, small-town lives. Even if they have experienced a little life, it isn't anybody's place to tell you what you're capable of knowing, doing, or feeling. Don't allow yourself to be made smaller as a person because everyone doesn't understand where you've been and what you've experienced.

Comments made about age, whether it be a comment about being too old, or too young, are all relative. Live in such a way that you think and act whatever age you want to be, just be prepared for the consequences in some cases, and also for the benefits that can come from it. Your maturity, insight, open-mindedness, and hunger for life along with all that it has to offer will only grow as you become more comfortable in whatever age you choose to operate in. So, live your life, forget your age, and continue growing throughout all the seasons of your life.