Having turned 29 on March 8, I have found myself constantly going back to the ever-dreadful thought of how fast time starts to move with age.
It is crazy to me how small decisions seem to have such a profound impact on life. No, I am not going to read off the synopsis of the movie The Butterfly Effect, but in this time of retrospect, it is fascinating to dissect the choices we make in our lives.
I have made some good decisions, but probably more terrible ones. The bad ones usually involved spending money on unnecessary things, intense bouts of partying and other poor lifestyle choices. I’m sure many others can relate.
Through our 20s, it is so easy to forget about time, as we spend so much of it chasing the next adrenaline rush. Often, it leads to poor decisions. I can recall many times over the years where I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I also knew I could just chalk it up to young, blissful ignorance.
That play is old faithful. We go back to it time and time again until it really starts to impact our existence.
The weight of my decisions really took hold after I lost a close friend to a drug overdose in 2016. We were the same age, and he died when I was 24. There were a number of years spent in high school and afterwards where we lived the same lifestyle, to a certain extent.
He had a heart of gold. To me, it was always a little risky to hang out with him because of how he liked to operate, but at the end of the day, I’m not sure I can say anyone had my back more than he did.
The finality of his death shook me. I had lost a number of people close to me before, but never like this. It wasn’t long after this friend’s death I started to realize the impacts of my own decisions. It may sound crazy that it took me that long, but it did.
My decision to change my life started with taking an extra day off after a hangover. What came of it was my first year without partying. Now, I live without that aspect of my life almost completely.
The same was true for my job. I started to hate what I was doing while I was working in the oil and gas sector. After having enough, I sent off an application to SAIT’s journalism program in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Fast forward four years, I am doing exactly what I always hoped I would.
The diatribe above was to portray the message of the importance of our own decision-making. Changing our lives can seem long and daunting. But it starts with a single step.
Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @Jay_Strickz
