A quarter** to the quarter* life

"I am thinking about you today because you are not turning 25 every year. I miss you and wish that you were here with me to celebrate it with me" these were the lines that I told myself when I turned 25 y.o.

But on the contrary, I am feeling the same normal as I feel excited about my birthday. Well, I guess the age is to be blamed.

I can't believe that today marks 25 years old, which means you have lived 1/4th of your life already. Time really goes fast.  This is the age where you feel that you want to make the most of it. But with the same thought small thinking creeps under your head that you are reaching your 30's too..! and this... this scares you to the core. You want to have fun but like to be responsible too.

This is the age where you like cartoons but cannot ignore the films that give messages on serious issues. It's like you can't blend with children but don't feel like adulting too. You get so choosy in picking the people you hang out with, you start looking for a similar vibe rather than a similar locality. 

A quarter* is the stage where the temporary people start exiting your life and you don't even get affected by it. Because this is also the stage where you have already made peace with your dark pasts and eventually moved on. At this point, you start understanding the importance of family and Frie-mily (friends like family). You do start respecting the old traditions but accept new cool swags like GOAT, SMH, BRB.

This quarter teaches you that nights out are fun, but so is early to rise and early to bed. You don't wake up to the screeching noise of alarms rather it's the responsibilities on your shoulders that widen up your sleepy af eyes. You want to get fit but are getting sloppy.

You like to stay in and watch Netflix and play with Xbox and ps5's, but you get nostalgic about playing gully cricket where you used slippers, old cans, bricks, and all such sort of odd things as stumps. You scold young children for doing something which you naughtily did in your early 20's and even now at 25 when you are with your squad you don't hesitate to do mischief but scolds the little ones if they do the same.

And how can you ignore the importance of Vitamin M. You start understanding the money spent on food is a way more good investment than the money spent on movies, but duh Friday's first shows of your favorite actor are difficult to resist. This quarter stage makes you invest in stocks and SIPs. At this point in your life, you don't take chances for general coaches rather you book your seats in advance. And suddenly you realize that you are getting more organized towards these little things.

Every morning you wake up with a small confusion about whether to wear a tee or to down a formal shirt; go with the plain haircut or with funky ones. Choose sandals for comfort or office shoes to match the dress-code of your organization. Here you start missing your good old college days but at the same time, your new office environment and teaming up with all the new faces excites you.

Alas, the BIG question about marrying and settling for one tries to get you, and thanks to society as they won't let you forget this. But you stand here jabbing your mind about the confusion as to how to choose your soulmate. Because on one hand, you do like the young aunt living next door and you have a crush on her teen daughter too ;). So basically, you are in constant notion whether to remain single and have fun or to achieve the milestone of your quarter-life.

So let's go back in time where we could spend a quarter** to raise a quarter# and say cheers to this quarter* age of life.