23

The Myth

There usually isn't anything special about turning 23, at least from what I hear. It's in between being able to get legally drunk and saving money on your car insurance or not having to pay the underage rate when renting a car stage. The average 23-year-old has been out of college for some time now and is either attending grad school or working at their first "real" job. Metabolism is a word of the past (since that function shut off at 21) as is the phrase "term break." Anybody who has turned 23 can say that they remember "the good old days" but they aren't old enough to use that as a way to escape an argument.

If you think of 23 years as a number rather than an age, then you have the number that describes how long it takes for Congress to pass a bill. Researchers and scientists could take this amount of time to study one person's actions, or it could be the amount of time taken to develop a groundbreaking technology. Unrealistic, sure. Then there are those people who unfortunately haven't even made it to 23.

Then I think of what's happened in the past 23 years, 8,400.75 days or 201,618 hours. I've gone to school for 17 of them. So that leaves 6 years, but I can already subtract 3 because I don't remember anything solid from before I was 4. That leaves 3 years. I guess you can't calculate it that way though, because then there's a couple of years in childhood and the (close to) one year I've been out of college.

The Reality

With all this talk about how mediocre being 23 can be, I can't say that I expect this next year to just fly by unnoticed. Already in 2006, so many things have changed for me and I can safely say that my life is different now than it was a year ago. Hell, you can actually go back to last year's posts and see how I've changed (I'll definitely write more than one). There is so much to look forward to. More conferences to attend, more people to meet, more websites to make and more projects to finish. It's delightful and it makes turning a year older that much better. Granted as I get older there will be others behind me half my age with more accomplishments, but I've learned not to worry about that anymore. We only have time to worry about ourselves and the loved ones around us, and it's better to put more energy into those efforts than trying to spread one's self thin.

So yes, I do turn 23 today. However, instead of dreading it, I'm pretty confidence that I'll be welcoming it with open arms. But you know, by the time I get used to being 23, I'll be writing "24".

Birthday Wishes?

Well, if you're bored today and you have a little time, I'd love to hear from you. :)

(PS: Thanks for all the birthday wishes guys, and thanks again to Paul for the iTMS gift - really, you didn't need to do that.)