Survive till 25 would be the only bit of wisdom that I have to pass down to the younger generation.
First of all, it feels like this is owed after the bleakness of my previous post. You know the one about how nothing will be done about mass shooters.
Second of all, did I not already write this post. Apparently not, I was thinking about sharing it, but when I looked up the site, there was no trace. Odd because I definitely felt that I had written and published this.
Thirdly this post is aimed specifically at men below 25. Now, that might not sound “inclusive” or whatever way you want to phrase it, but I don’t care. Young men are the most excluded group in history. They get shafted by society, and nothing will change. For the few of you young men that will read this and for the even smaller group who will understand this, enjoy.
You know how there are people on the abortion debate who will state “No uterus, no opinion”? Well I’m afraid I’m going to have to play that sexist card back at ya. If you weren’t born with male genitalia, then you can’t have an input. Furthermore, it’s not really warranted or welcome either.
In short, you might want to skip this one.
Are they gone?
Good, where was I, ah yes, gentlemen, survive till 25.
First section of life sucks
The first section of a man’s life sucks doesn’t matter who you are. This could fall along the lines of material. As in you might grow up dirt poor. You might have emotional defecits. You feel neglected or treated unfairly by those around you.
The first part of your life probably sucks.
I have some good news and some bad news for you.
The bad news is you’re right.
The good news?
You’re right.
You might be thinking back to your childhood. What can you remember? Being shouted at, told to stay away from there, behave, sit still? Something like that. When you see how parents talk to their sons, you wonder. You wonder if the soul purpose that they had a male was that they wanted something to shout at.
Then there are your teenage years. You’re awkward, everything embarrasses you and what the hell is up with your cock. How come you always get the most rigid reinforced erections right before communion? You were continually getting rejected. You gave a girl your heart. Her boyfriend, home from uni reversed over it while taking her to some country lane to get terrible head. One would get more pleasure shagging a cheese grater.
Then you leave school and finally get to be your own man, right?
Right?
Wrong, once you leave school, you have at least another 7 years of awkwardness. This is a period of getting comfortable in your own skin. Working out what is important to you what you stand for.
Your early twenties are a great time to make all your mistakes. Over and over, crashing and burning. Rejection after rejection. As you’re going through the swamp, you will wonder to yourself, “Good God is it going to be like this until death? Can’t I skip ahead? Can I die now and save myself the torture?”. Now that’s a thought that will appear mighty comforting in your head. It’s a siren call that wants you to dash your ship upon the rocks.
I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been tempted by the call. There have been a few instances when I have sailed too close to the rocks. Looking back I’m glad I steered clear. Why am I?
Survive till 25, and you’ll know
Once you survive till 25 everything changes
One day you will wake up in your mid-twenties, and you’ll feel that change. You’ll wake up, and there’ll be something that you have that you didn’t have before.
What is it, you wonder? Some readers who have been through this already know what I’m talking about.
What I’m talking about is a strength of character.
Survive till 25. You’ll realise all those knocks, all those setbacks, all the failure has given something that no one is born with. You will have strength of character.
It’ll take you a while to notice that you have the strength of character. In fact, you won’t be the one to notice it, you’ll only realise it through how others treat you.
You’ve had a long time to get to know who you are and be more comfortable in your body. Over time, that awkwardness, that desperation for validation will fall away. You’ll become self-reliant. You will stop caring for the opinions of others. You’ll do what is right for you and people will be drawn to that.
The moment that it clicked for me was realising that girls became attracted to me. More importantly, they were attracted to me because of who I was not what I had or could offer.
I don’t know what it is but the craft that is you rights itself at 25. You had a rough take-off, but by you’re in your mid-twenties you are at cruising altitude.
Life does get better for you once you turn 25, you’re more in control of your emotions. That need to be shocking and gross goes away, and you can get to work on who you want to become for the rest of your life.
I’m not telling you that life becomes a cakewalk, it doesn’t, it’s still uphill. Once you tried to climb the mountain naked now that you’re a man in your mid-twenties you have the climbing gear and a map.
All you have to do is survive till 25, and things will get better.
One added bonus you have to realise is that no one is coming to save you. Now you can look at this as depressing, or you can look at it as one of the most liberating ideas you’ll have.
Understand that when no one comes to save you, that means that you did everything off your own back. When you succeed, you don’t owe anybody anything. You can put yourself first and not feel guilty about.
You will have earned what you have.
All you have to do?
Survive till 25.
You have a choice to make
You don’t have to believe me. This could all be some elaborate ruse that I don’t actually mean. I could be pulling your leg.
Either way, believe me or don’t. Understand that there is a choice that you have to make and the decision is that you survive until 25 or you don’t.
While most people will tell you that you should keep on living and that there’s so much in store for you, I’m not. To be honest, I don’t even know if there is anything in store for me, let alone you.
If you want to end it all before you turn 25, then I guess that’s your choice. Who am I to argue. It’s not like you’re irreplaceable or anything. You’re replaceable, I’m replaceable, everyone is for that matter. That’s OK, you and I were told that we were special and destined for greater things. The chances of that being true are minimal. Not everyone can win first place. What might take you a while to realise is that not being unique is the most extraordinary thing about you.
Does that make sense?
You have nothing to lose, do you not want to find out how far you can take it?
Survive till 25, and you’ll begin to find out. Show the world how far you can take it. I’m not for you, but I’m not against you either.
Conclusion: Survive till 25
Life may seem like a daunting uncaring place at times. Sometimes it is but use it to your advantage and live for yourself and those who deserve your time.
You don’t owe anyone anything.
If you plan on seeing this out and I hope you do, here are a few pieces of advice that might help you along the way
- Don’t get into massive amounts of debt
- If you feel the need to slut it up to break up with your girlfriend, there will be others. One true love is a load of shit.
- Try not to catch an STI. Your prime boning years are after 25. Keep it clean.
- Don’t have a kid.
- Get into good habits early, whether it’s a good sleep routine or taking care of your health. In fact, try and stay in shape throughout your twenties.
- Clubs are a terrible place to meet people.
- Try and create a little each day. Whether that’s writing, drawing, playing an instrument do something. Don’t be a consumer who takes and takes and takes. Give back a bit.
- Find your purpose. You have to find something that you like to do and keep on doing it. If you struggle to know what that is, think back to your childhood, what did you do for play?
- Get out in nature and the sun as much as you can. You’ll thank me later.
- Meditate, not because of the spiritual benefits. Meditate because you’re building up patience and awareness. Being aware will pay off down the road.
If you’re a young man reading this, I hope you found it helpful.