Being 20-something

By Johanne Margarette R. Macob

I JUST arrived home from get-together with a college buddy. No serious business to talk about, just shared stories about our respective careers, families, love-lives, etc. until we zeroed in on career, on our dreams.

I’m a struggling journalist while she, a struggling university instructor, or at least that was how we described it. Still, we both claimed that we are enjoying what we do, that we have learned to love our jobs. Well, I have always loved writing while she never realized she could and would love teaching till it came up.

Then, our plans for the future. We remembered our dreams. We recalled our ten-year plans we wrote for a subject back then. Oh, those ideals…

The thing was we wanted to be this, we wanted to be that… but we didn’t have the slightest concrete idea how to get there. I think this is the problem with us 20-somethings. We want to make it big. Through our younger years, we hang on to our dreams. Yet, many would let go the moment they step in the real world, or the moment they realize the harshness of reality, or when they comparison between themselves and their batchmates begin.

We recalled how idealistic we were when we were still in school. And when we started to think that our dreams are too far and distant where we are now, we realized we become either too hard on ourselves or too accepting. Whichever of the two, we ended up less determined, less courage to do and be more.  We’ve come to realize that the obstacles are in fact ‘pressure’, not actually from others, but from ourselves.

Indeed, even I, too, have those ‘down’ times. At times, I would think of my college or even high school days when pressures were less yet I would ask myself “Is this all you can?” or “What are you doing with your life?” During these times, I would remind myself of the dreams I used to dream, those ideals. Then I would get back on track. I may not have realized all, but I still believe someday I will.

Pressures are good when these push one do better, but these are bad when these discourage people. We all need a good dose of pressure to keep us on track. As my friend and I concluded, we would neither be too hard on ourselves nor too complacent. We would gradually but surely pursue each of our dreams.

First step, never ever forget our dreams. Second, get them. We may not know how we get there but we will figure them out, soon. Believe.

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