act your age.

 (A little throwback Thursday. We were obviously super cool.)

If you didn't know your actual age how old would you guess you are? Growing up is an interesting concept. When I was a kid it went something along the lines of, "when I grow up I want to do, be, see, fill in the blank." Nowadays I still find myself saying the same, when I grow up. ERR maybe it goes something like when I get old. Let's not argue about semantics here. Throughout the years I have of course matured physically, emotionally, and mentally (at times that's debatable). However, I find myself still giddy about things that made me excited as a kiddo. Does that make me weird? Perhaps. But it also excites me that I haven't gotten into the rut of "I'm too old" for things that I probably am not too old for (and, well, um, some, maybe I am too old for but that hasn't really stopped me).


Anyways, I danced throughout high school and after graduation I continued to dance in college. I remember bumping into people time and time again saying the same things. I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something along the lines of,  "I wish I could continue my hobby of X,Y, and Z. Or I wish I could do what you're doing." And I believe at the time I did everything in my power to hold back my expression, but I wanted to shake people and tell them you are soooo young and it's not too late! You can do these things! We are talking about 18, 19, 20 something year-olds.

Now I would imagine these same people look back on that time in their life and see that life-stage as opportunity (when they didn't see it that way as they were living it), and today they continue to reinforce and confirm that same belief system of: "I'm too old. It's been too long since I've done it. I had the chance ten years ago but didn't take it so there's no way I can do it now." But seriously. Where will some be ten years from now? Honestly, probably looking back at where we are now repeating the same mantra.

A few years back my oldest sister, in her thirties, decided to get into figure competitions. Seeing her invest her heart and soul into something that required an extensive amount of discipline, dedication, and passion was inspiring. I loved that even though she had never thought of or done anything like that in her life she did it. She pushed herself out of her comfort zone, tried something scary, and discovered things about herself she didn't even know existed. AND had a blast doing it.

So while we may have times where we question where we're at or we find ourselves waiting for growing up to bring us joy and satisfaction on a silver platter, we might have to grab our tray, go out there, and get our hands dirty. Start actively living in the present moment versus waiting for more money, better jobs, and exciting dreams to come true. Don't get me wrong, all of those things are important but I think why not take where we are now and truly live it.

What's interesting about this post is my intention in creating it was supposed to go off on some tangent about me still being silly, friends bringing out a young spirit, and yadda-yadda, but I just kind of let the keys type for themselves today. And this is where my mind went. But maybe we need to not try and act our age because we think that's what we have to do. Maybe be okay with where we're at AND DO what that young spirit values but that number tells us we're too old to do.

What have you been wanting to do but are holding back on doing? What's one thing you did to push yourself out of your comfort zone? How old would you be if you didn't know your age? Some days I'd like to say 15 and other days I feel like 83. Today I feel pretty 27ish. Leave a comment below and hope to see you soon!

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