Youth is Overrated.

When I was five years old I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I told them “be a shopper”. Evidently I didn’t dream too big when I was younger. Despite those youthful ambitions not starting too lofty, that doesn’t mean they didn’t grow. I’m no longer obsessed with making a career out of spending money to increase my material wealth but age has allowed me to see the importance of other such endeavours (not that aspiring to “be a shopper” is anything to lament but I do think my mother breathed a sigh of relief when these plans changed). 

I now find myself motivated and inspired by women who are at the height of success and loving it. Thriving in their job; making decisions, delegating, proving their worth and maintaining their own sense of confidence and drive in the face of difficulties. I, like media and the many, was infatuated with the success of the young; those who reached the top of their field before they passed through adolescence, or those who age proved no barrier in their determination to prevail. Those who knew young to dream big. 

There is so much focus on the accomplishments of youth, “she’s done so much and she’s so young” which inevitably lends to pressure to succeed quickly, spotlight clambering over tales of overnight dreams becoming reality. But reality is hard work and late nights and missing social occasions and cancelling on your boyfriend on Valentine’s day because projects due the next day don’t finish themselves. Overnight success is rare, as is young success and youth isn’t everything. It can carry the burden of expectation and comparison. It’s lovely to hear the fairy tales of individuals who carry luck on their side and who know they’re “blessed” to be where they are. But the real fairy tales? They’re behind the scenes, not glorified by media or tagging headlines. They’re the ones that are too busy focusing on deadlines and to-do lists and pushing themselves to complete more than is required. They’re the ones quietly making a difference. 

The “you have so much time” line that 20-something’s are fed by elders feels shallow, absent of truth, because the reality is our time passes so quickly; between work, study, friends, boyfriend, family, travel and trying to squeeze social occasions and fun in there is overwhelming and the clock whizzes past along with the belief that we have plenty of time to have a career and a family. 

The idea that there are people younger than us achieving more, and faster is inspiring, until it’s no longer available. Until our youth is snatched away from us between all the obligations we’re trying to fulfill. Inspiration disappears along with possibility. The attraction of youthful success is only encouraging while it is available. Then 25 hits amidst watching teenagers sail past on top of their mountain of accolades, building gadgets worth millions at a time when you were still enjoying life; running wild, acting silly and spending days gallivanting with friends under the freedom of youth. 

Is youthful success all it appears to be? The media sensationalise and simplify the notion that we all can create such opportunity. Youth does not equal success. Hard work, determination, motivation, ambition; these are part of the equation that perpetrate success in youth, not something born out of the simple naivete that dictates our age. 

Thankfully, I find myself inspired by the women who lived their youth; recklessly, full of mistakes and joy rides, of late nights and too many ciders and endless experiences and continued to work hard when pregnant, with toddlers looping circles around concentrated faces as the coffee cups stacked up began to seem depleted of caffeine. Or powering through nap time for the opportunity of quiet. Of women who maintain relationships; intimate and friendly, the upkeep of a house, of a family dynamic and of financial stability. Women who continue to put food on the table, glistening, young eyes to bed with a bedtime story, and they still find time to build careers, to use the powerful female mind to build companies, to make a difference, to follow a passion that didn’t die when puberty passed or when their success story can no longer be glorified for happening “so young”. For me, inspiration is that; hard work, determination, perseverance and triumph through failure; achieved in longevity, a story that lasts the distance.