So it is the first month of the first year of the second decade of the third millennium. Great! I'm not normally the nostalgic kinds, who look at all the years gone by with rose tinted glasses and mourn the times that whizzed past like non-descript towns on a train journey. But even by realistic means the past decade has been the most eventful of my life. Growing up is a natural and non-elective phenomena we all experience at some point during our time on the third rock from the sun, and believe you me it doesn't depend on your age. Growing old is mandatory, while growing up is strictly optional.
It is kind of a voluntary (in most cases) and also involuntary (in some) event. It can be triggered by one, many or the sum of a group of experiences. It is like an inflection point in a curve which marks a significant change and departure from previous behaviour and ultimately comes to define us, whether we like it or not. And yes, growing up is seldom easy. But also hugely under rated. When people talk about it they rarely refer to it in positive shades. They complain about how life was better off when they were. When you just had to bother with trivial details like homework, play mates (not the Hefner kinds) or what time to go sleep. Its much easier than figuring out 'big' and 'difficult' things like career, money, family and the ilk. To an extent that's true. Responsibilities increase, days get grudgingly longer, complications start to arise and rarely does any aspect of life seem under control. I don't know exactly why but it is these things which make growing up more exciting. Probably since it signifies tackling challenges, newer avenues, channeling your energy into what you believe is right for you, a chance to make each day more exciting than the previous one and above all being solely responsible for your actions.il there's one thing that scares me the most is looking at my time in hindsight, as a tired and frustrated old hag, blaming others for the way my life has turned out. The 'others' here may signify parents, peer group, opportunities (or the lack of), and the lamest of all, the dreaded 4 word, fate. Instead of that I want to look back at my life and say proudly that yes, it is the best and more importantly, the ONLY way I could've lived it. The tinge of regret of a lifetime worth of promises unkept and options unexplored, is what I dread the most.
It’s not like I haven’t made any mistakes. But the weird thing is that despite that whenever I look back I never tell myself that I wish I could’ve done things differently.If given the chance I’m pretty sure I would’ve taken the same decisions, not out of some false bravado, but simply due to the fact, in that state and position, that’s what I could’ve done. Obviously we must learn from our follies and move on but the learning they represent is more potent than all the things that go right on the way.
So that’s that. A bit of pending amateur psycho gibberish for anyone who cares. The trick I guess, as always, is to grow up without growing old 
Have a great decade(s) ahead!
