Time is a bastard I won't break my neck to get around it.
(Thank you Paramore for that enticing opening line)
Anywhoo, I'm coming to you with some thoughts on time and I guess, more specifically.. about how we feel a pressure to be in a certain situation by a certain time in our lives. Surely that's not just me?
My age - a grand old Twenty Seven (I know I look about 12) - has been something that's been playing on my mind a hell of a lot recently. I'm at that age where a lot of my friends are settled down, happy in their careers and lets face it .. probably home owners.
- Actual LOL at the thought of me ever becoming a home owner -
But then equally - on the other side of the coin - I've also got friends (admittedly a few years younger than me) who have put more focus on setting up their own businesses and traveling than they have saving up for a mortgage.
I guess - that pressure of being 'settled' is less that it used to be when Mom In Blunderland was younger.. ( I remember her telling me that she felt really late to the marriage bandwagon - even though she was only in her early twenties - because she was the last one out of her friends to tie the knot) but regardless it's still very much there and I for one am feeling it.

I've got to be honest... the speed at which I seem to be hurtling through life is actually terrifying me. I feel so behind and late to the game. I'm late in starting a 'proper career', I've only just properly set up my photography business ( www.allyshipway.com plug plug plug), I'm painfully single, I'm no where near saving up for a mortgage and my only spare money every month gets spent on cook books I'm yet to read and an array of hair dyes.

I guess that mostly it just comes down to accepting that a lot of -if not all of - the decisions I made that lead me to this point were through choice and actually... I still have that choice now. I could've stayed living with Mom in Blunderland and saved up for a house but instead I chose to move out and start renting. I could've stayed in relationships that weren't right for me but I chose not to. I could've moved to London and pursued a career in the arts but I chose to stay in Birmingham with my then boyfriend.
I choose to not be defined by the amount of time I've spent on earth.
I choose to be more present, more aware and more conscious of the ways in which I choose to spend my time.
I choose to feel a sense of freedom as apposed to a sense of fear.
I choose to make decisions that benefit me inwardly, as opposed to what looks beneficial outwardly.
I choose to search for comfort and calm in the sometimes overwhelming anxiety I feel about change and
I choose to embrace the passage of time and hold on tightly - no matter how rapidly it decides to take me.
What do you choose?
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