Whilst enjoying a lovely dinner this past weekend with my two friends, the conversation took an ugly turn for the worse when the topic of age came up. “I feel like an old, bitter, single woman…” said my friend Rachel. Please take note, Rachel, at the ripe old age of 25, has the most beautiful features, and literally eats men for breakfast.
“Ugh, tell me about it,” said my friend Mike, who at the age of 24 could pass for a 15 year old. “I can’t even take it!”
To this, my eyes simply rolled back into my head. “OH Jesus, you both are ruined. One foot in the grave. Take note, my friends, your lives are over!”
Right then and there, Mike asked me a question that made my insides queasy, my brain weary, and my mind wander.
“Come on, Scott. Please tell me that if you had the chance to go back to when you were 18 and do it all over again, you wouldn’t?”
This question took me back a few years in time. At the age of 18, I had just graduated high school, started college, and fully realized the extent to which my teenage angst hindered my ability to live. At the age of 18, I was falling in love for the first time, experiencing the utter pain of heartache, making the biggest mistakes of my life, and trying to act like an adult… even though I was still a child. These years were crucial in making me the man I am today. Although I made mistakes (Oh god, did I make mistakes), I learned from each and every one of them. I grew and changed throughout the years. Each and every experience I had from the time I was 18 until now (age 24), made me a stronger, better human. I have few regrets, and even those experiences I wish I could take back taught me a valuable lesson. I continue to make mistakes to this day, so why on earth would I want to go back and lose the insight I have gained throughout the years?
Thus, after a few silent moments of reflection, I took a deep, contemplative breath, looked at Mike and answered his question with utter certainty… “No… I absolutely would not.”
- Scott
