The Perfect Age to be Again for Just One more Day!
It was my lucky day yesterday! My husband got off of work earlier than I did, so he had kid duty. By the time I got off, the kids' homework and dinner were all finished. They were enjoying their free hour before their bedtime when I made my way into the house.
I watched as my son buzzed around, playing with a Lego plane he had just constructed. I heard my daughter’s music filter out of her room where she occupied herself with learning the words to a song that she had placed on repeat. Between my son’s battle cries, explosion sounds and the loud racket coming from my daughter’s room the noise level in the house was at a respectable 6 out of 10.
After I said my hellos, I made a beeline for my room to de-bunny. That’s where I found my husband. He shared my same thoughts as he comfortably sat on our bed with his lounging gear on and glass of wine in his hand. By the numbers (age that is) they were all relaxing the best way they saw fit and it got me thinking. If I could be any age of my liking over again for just a day, which age would I find to be the most fun to relive?
First I filtered through the ages I would hate to go through again, so my adolescent years were quickly stricken off the list. Then it came to me as if I had always known. That wonderful age that I was able to capture, only to let go of as soon as it fit me like a glove. That age for me was 21.
That was the age I was no longer completely clueless on how the world worked, but still clueless enough. It was the age I met the love of my life and rediscovered the butterflies that resided in my belly. I indulged in the immaturity of breaking up just to make up, always making it more dramatic than it ever was.
It was the time in my life I was proud of my alcohol tolerance that seemed inconceivable to some. However even when I did miscalculate the booze to body ratio, I quickly bounced back, ready to do it all over again the next night. It was nothing to take off a couple days from work to go camping. Or on a whim put myself up in a posh hotel I knew I couldn't afford, while taking in the sites (museums, planetariums and etc.) of neighboring cities. I felt as if I had a sample tray of life readily at my disposal.
Granted, I was too young to know what a gift I had in front of me, but that same naivety allowed me to take pleasure in all things regardless of how good or bad the idea was. That type of freedom is fleeting. Repercussions from my bad choices mingling with the development of my maturity from the good ones were always ready to fill my mind with knowledge that pushed me forward.
Before I knew it I was 22… Soon after that I was a year older over and over again. I was out of the realm of thinking it was okay to “worry about it later” and “enjoy while I can”. To be young and dumb for one more day would be marvelous!
Then back to building I would go… on marriage, family and life in a whole, while I cherish every day of my present. I know years from now I will definitely look back wanting one more day of this as well.
At this very moment what age would you choose to be for a day and why?