My Coming of Age

As 2013 comes to a close and 2014 is appearing on the horizon, one inevitable change in my life is coming and there’s nothing I can do to stop it; And that inevitable change is the closing of my 20’s and the start of my 30’s. Before our calendars turn to 2014 I will be celebrating what will be the last year of my 20’s and that in itself has caused me to reflect a lot on the last decade that was.

My 20’s can be best summed up in three phases. The first of which was my early 20’s, during this time of my life I had youth and independence on my side, and none of the knowledge and wisdom to go along with it. By this point in my I had been living outside of my parents’ house (and entire state for that matter) for a few years already, but I was only just beginning to learn what it meant to be an adult. I made a lot of stupid mistakes, mistakes that ran the spectrum from dating, to my use of time in college, to part time work choices and not spending any time or effort addressing my hurts and hang ups that had followed me from my youth. But somehow through God’s grace I had managed to meet the woman of my dreams that would eventually become my wife. And from that starting point I had no idea the growth and connection that we would eventually find within ourselves and each other.

My mid 20’s were a period of revelation, healing and getting my life together. I had come clean not only to my best friend but most notably to myself about the addictions that were plaguing my life. And probably more importantly, I began to address where those demons had come from and started to put the work into dealing with the pain and hurt that I had experienced but hid away from myself so long ago. Coincidentally this was also the same period of time that I was introduced to the world of Dave Ramsey. And Dave’s financial baby steps I think laid the groundwork for me to move forward and began my journey of emotional healing and learning to love and forgive myself as well as others.

By my late 20’s I hit full stride in each of the areas that I had spent my time and energy working on. I feel that our marriage is thriving thanks to the work we put in with individual and couples counseling, we are on track with our household finances having become debt free and having a plan for all of our disposable income, my career is on a great track with an excellent company, and overall I feel like I have my head on straight and am taking the right approach and attitude with a lot more aspects of my life than when I did when my 20’s began.

So this is it! The last year of my 20’s. I don’t exactly know what my 30’s will bring but I’m pretty sure it is going to be a blast getting there and seeing what life has in store for this next decade of my life. But for now I am going to do my best to relish and enjoy these last 365 or so days that I can call myself a 20-something.