I am hitting 27 years old in 2024. 

Age is just a number, sure. But, it does make me think about a lot of things as well. Like, how it has been almost two years since I left my previous company, three years since I left school, three years and counting since I have the ambition to continue my postgraduate studies, two years since I said I would finally take my driving license but still did not, almost nine years since I left and live far from home.

It has been over one year since I was crush-free, one year of calm and peaceful life, four months since I changed my lifestyle and habits, two months since I seriously exercise (welp, mostly running!), six months free from the occasional mental breakdown and no-sense crying...

Welp.

I still had that out-of-nowhere anxiety once in a blue moon, but overall—I definitely feel a lot better this year.

Regardless, I have come to learn that growing up is a process, a continuous process that goes not only when we are still a child or a rebellious adolescent. It keeps going and we keep on learning from it. The learning path would not be the same as well. I might learn that one of the ways to stay afloat is by letting go of myself instead of responding to every suffocating trigger. You might learn it the other way around. Perhaps, every response helps trigger your fight-or-flight mode, kicking in the adrenaline needed for you to push through.

We could not always fit in comfortably in others' shoes—and that is a fact.

Being in our twenties, for me, is very much confusing. When I was in my early twenties, I thought I would be free from all these 'crippling' emotions and things once I jumped into the real adult life aka working life--but nothing in those years have prepared me for this. Over the time, we just learn how to stay afloat amidst of all things, while at the same time try to make bubble and have fun with life.

ANYthing that keep us afloat and contented.

Cheers for 2023! :)