At 25, undramatic and grateful

It is getting hard to remember that I'm actually a quarter-of-a-century old already, while memories are still fresh when I eagerly counted the number of candle sticks on my birthday cakes as a child. I saw a blog post of a friend a few days ago who exclaimed equally "alarmingly" that she, like me, as reached an age that media likes to portrait as a period of uncertainties and crises. "As first I was just reading aimlessly at a report saying many 25-year-olds are encountering identity, job, and relationship problems," she wrote in her post, "until I realized, Bam, that I am one of those 25-year-olds!" Time seems to progress faster than we realize, especially when life has not seemed to have changed dramatically for my friend and me at 25. In many aspects, we are still who we were when we were a few ages younger, and therefore, our 25s seem a lot less dramatic than those in the papers.

But even though my 25 seems rather bland, it is probably still an important turning point in life. Even though no changes has happened suddenly at the juncture of 25, changes have happened gradually that I am quite a different person than the 22-year-old "me." I have a job that I enjoy, and I learn something new professionally every day. I have a boyfriend who treats me as the apple of his eye, and I learn how to better express my love every day. I have a comfortable rental property that I call home, whose space I define every day with a new decoration, a new recipe, or a new mark on the carpet. These are the things that have changed for me in the past few years and are continuing to change me. In addition, my bonds with my parents continue to deepen, and I continue to develop new goals for the future. Compared with many 25s who are in papers or around me, I feel truly lucky and grateful.