IBOGIRLLIVING

 

I'm about to take myself and possibly you all on a flashback ride that I never planned on taking today. I was initially going to upload another style review but the truth is I was too lazy to sort through clothes, take a million pictures, edit the 4 or 5 I use for the post before cleaning up the giant mess I made in the process of creating content! I just got tired typing all of that! LORD!

I say all that to say that this was my back up post and I quite prefer it because ever since turning 40, I have days where I take nostalgic trips back through my 20s and realize there are things I miss and things I don't miss from that time in my life. Assuredly, you do the same thing where you think back to a time that was maybe more innocent and carefree and you either smile at the memories or thank God those days are long gone. Anyway, enough babbling, here's 10 things about my 20s: 5 things I miss and 5 things I don't.

                                                               WHAT I MISS!

1. UNIVERSITY LIFE & FRIENDS -  Ya'll are going to have to excuse the quality of some of these images. You know we were not concerned or aware of light, angles and saturation back in the day when we were taking pictures but I miss my days in University with my group of girlfriends; it was a time when we worried about nothing but getting good seats in the back of class (when we actually did go to class, hahaha!) and avoiding the sophomores who all wanted to date us as freshmen. It was really a fun time in my life that I do miss and cherish all the memories I have like this picture I took with my friends at the carpark when I'm almost positive we should have been in class receiving the education our parents paid for.

2. WORKING WITH COLLEAGUES THAT BECAME FRIENDS - Some of my closest and dearest friends today besides the girls and some guys I went to school with are those I worked with in my 20s. It was so much fun going to the office everyday because I knew it was going to be 9 hours of hanging with my pals and it honestly was what made work bearable on the many days when we just didn't want to be there.

 3. GETTING TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS FROM HIGH SCHOOL - I left high school back in 1997 and so one of the things I miss about my 20s is getting together with friends years after graduating. I remember keeping in touch with almost everyone and usually being one of the people who planned these reunions. This image is of one of those reunions we had years ago and I remember it being such a fun day out. These days, everyone is scattered all around the world with families of their own and the only way we have to keep in touch now is through WhatsApp Groups.

4. ATTENDING WEDDINGS - I don't know about you guys but attending weddings in my 20s is something that I miss mainly because I always either knew the bride, the groom, the couple or because I knew I was going to be attending with friends. It was an excuse to get dressed up, eat and drink for free and if it was a really fun wedding, we stayed and partied till the venue literally closed. LOL! Obviously things have changed and weddings are not the fun event they used to be majorly because of Co-Vid but also because more and more couples are embracing the minimal lifestyle and so the days of carnival-like weddings are over.

5. BEING A SIZE 10 WITHOUT WORKING OUT OR DIETING -  Oh how I miss the days in my 20s when I was a happy size 10 and I didn't even have to do anything for it. If someone had only told me that with age would come hormonal issues that caused me to gain weight (not eating all the fried food and drinking soda 3 days a week), I would have..... what would I have been able to do truthfully? Working out was not a "lifestyle" in my 20s and by the time I got on the train in my 30s, albeit falling off multiple times, I was already a size 12 on the road to becoming borderline size 14.

                                                        WHAT I DON'T MISS!

On the flip side, getting older has not been without it's own joys and merits. I am always grateful for every year I get to advance in age because while I know I don't look too bad for a 40 year old gal, it's also a privilege I know that many do not get. So here's 5 things I don't miss about my 20s at all:

1. GOING THROUGH NYSC - If you are a non-Nigerian reading my blog, then NYSC means National Youth Service Corps and its a mandatory 1 year program all University graduates must go through in service to the country before fully entering the work force. Some look forward to this time away from home and some do not because the year is spent in remote parts of the country doing work that nobody seems to care about. I belong to the latter group thus making it something about my 20s that I certainly do not miss. Don't get me wrong, I met some really cool folks like the guys in this picture who made the time bearable but everything else was a blur and the part I don't miss. 

2 PARTYING. & CLUBBING - You would think that this is something I would actually miss about my 20s but truth be told I don't. While those were some fun times, my knees couldn't keep up with the all night dancing nor could my back hold up under the pressure of 6 inch heels for hours anymore every weekend and don't even get me started on the epic hangovers I suffered the next morning. I never thought I would be the girl who was happy in some flats or slippers but I totally have become her. Sorry!

3. BLACKBERRY PHONES - I don't miss Blackberry phones at all. I feel like the keypad was too small and there would always be too many errors when I was typing a message. I had to memorize a PIN number and deal with things hanging every now and then. It was just a hassle and for that reason, it's one more thing I don't miss about my 20s.

4. GIRL DRAMA & BOY TROUBLE - Like I said earlier, when it comes to girlfriends, I've always had a great group of girls in my circle. In that way I was lucky not to be directly affected by the typical girl drama that plagued a lot of us in our 20s. See a post I did about friendships in my 20s not making it to my 30s here but when it came to issues with the boys, I was not so lucky and its why I do not miss this about my 20s. I would love to give you guys details but that's just too much of my personal business out there😜. However, I have a post here about one of my "boy situations" that you may enjoy.

5. I SIMPLY DON'T MISS MUCH - Wrapping it up with this last point, my 20s were 2 decades ago (I just shuddered at that thought alone), I enjoyed the good, bad and ugly times and believe me, they were a lot of them but I'm good and grown and thankful for every memory I have of that time. The most important thing I do miss about my 20s and I know I always will is having all of my siblings living under one roof, being silly and loving on each other in our weird way. I miss my brother tremendously, I miss getting together with all my cousins for Christmas at grandma's house and mom and dad paying all the bills....😄.

What do you miss the most about your 20s and what are you happy you don't have to deal with anymore? Talk to me!

Excess Love,

Ibogirl