On August 22, 2017, I turned 20 years old.
I didn’t feel any different at the time. But I’ve changed so much since then.
I have come a long way. I’d even go so far as to say the person I was yesterday is not who I am today.
20 years might not seem like much for some people. But for me, it’s my whole life. Now with two decades of living under my belt, I can confidently say that as I’ve grown older, I have also gotten better.
In recent months, I gained much needed perspective. I realized there’s a lot more to life than being popular or cool, getting straight A’s, etc.
I used to worry myself crazy over things that never came to pass.
I obsessed over a past I couldn’t change and worried about a future I had no control over.
I would overthink. Overanalyze people and situations. Read too much into body language or certain words, phrases, so on.
As of late, I’ve tried to focus more on the present. Cliché, huh?
Nowadays, I’m doing my best to live in the moment and enjoy myself.
After all, we only ever have today. We don’t have tomorrow. But we have right now.
The older I get, the more accepting I am of certain facts in life. One being humans are constantly changing. Hence why I’m making peace with the consequences, positive or negative, of those changes.
I did plenty of self-reflection this past summer. I had time to think, so I thought. A lot.
As I’m writing this, I want nothing more than to be happy and healthy.
I personally define happiness as being able to do what I love and actually doing it. If all else fails, I will still continue to pursue the things that bring me the most joy in life.
This blog is a little over four years old. But I feel like turning twenty means a new beginning for my blogging, my writing, my everything.
Cheers to all of you who stuck by a teen writer for however long you did.
I’m an adult now, which means I no longer have an excuse to create crappy content. I joke.
Thank you for making the past four and final years of my teens the best I could’ve ever asked for.
Here’s to many more.
Herminia Chow 