A life of excess

A third blog post in a night - this has to make up for my recent lapse! I'm currently putting off going to bed, as to do so entails moving from this spot and ascending the stairs which is an absolute ordeal at the moment - I'm crippled with lower back and pelvic pain. So for now I shall procrastinate, and share my thoughts.

I have well and truly turned into the person that some years ago I swore I'd never be. Four years ago I would have considered the current 'me' out-of-touch and dull. When I heard people utter the very words I'm about to utter here, I sniggered behind their backs and concluded they didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Well, now I can say I've been there, done that and got the t-shirt and it was in modern-day times (rather than the prehistoric times I told myself the generation above used to indulge themselves in), and I DO know what I am talking about. ;)

I make no secret of the fact that I was a 'party girl' before I fell pregnant with Noah. Life was lived for the moment, I lived the ultimate life of excess - drink and drugs in particular. I was what I'd now describe as 'off the rails'. I had no care in the world about the future. My motto was "What's the point in living a long and boring life? I'd rather die tomorrow having fun." - sound familiar? If I was ruining my health, I didn't care. If I was throwing away my opportunities, it didn't matter.

Fortunately for me I fell pregnant when I did, and that turn of events was what it took to make me snap back into reality. And over time evolved the view is that, whilst the "live for the moment" philosophy is rather pleasant in concept, as long as we have people in our life that love us (which is certainly the case for most of us, whether we realise it or not) - and especially when we have people in our life who depend on us (and this can be on an emotional as well as a practical basis; ie it is not solely restricted to dependent children) - it is of utmost importance to bear the future in mind when choosing how to live our lives. Sure, we may die tomorrow. But we probably won't.

I have a wide network of people my own age on Facebook who I knew during my school years or in the years since leaving, so it isn't too difficult to see what people are doing with their lives. And it truly shocks me to see how many people my own age (22) and some even older are still living this 'life of excess' that I've described. Perhaps I have a skewed perspective of how a person in their early twenties should be behaving since I was forced to grow up so early myself, but sometimes I just wonder when these people will draw a line under it. Bearing in mind most kids in this country, at least in the circles I grew up in, get their first taste of the excess lifestyle in their early to mid teens - if they're still going strong nearly a decade later, do they ever plan to stop? Are they still living for the moment and ignoring the impending reality of the future? It's those that are still 'partying hard' after they have left university and are seeking real employment that I worry and wonder about the most. And by this I don't mean a drunken night out every few months; I mean those who are binge drinking or taking drugs 2, 3, 4 or more nights a week. Do people stop and think what this is doing to their health? What it will mean for their loved ones if something happens to them?

I can understand why a teenager would lack the life experience to work these things out for themselves; I certainly did. But for those hurtling head-first into their mid twenties - isn't it about time they grew up and realised what is important in life? Perhaps I'm being unreasonable having been catapulted into the future a little. I really don't know. But I will look forward to the day when I can communicate with those within my own age group without feeling exasperated at their lack of maturity; when everyone has joined me in 'Camp Boring', if you will.

Disclaimer: Yes, I am making generalisations. No, this does not apply to every childless 22 year old out there. But before anybody reads this and gets the hump - read between the lines; you'll know if it does not apply to youSource: http://monsterpeanut.blogspot.com/2010/08/life-of-excess.html