We all knew it was going to happen. For some of us, it already has and some of us are hiding quietly behind our bookshelves, wishing to go unnoticed. Some of us are just scared standing, feeling the slight breeze that is soon going to be a life-changing tornado taking us in its whirlwind and throwing us far away, in a place we have never been before. And some of us are just marking our calendars, for that very moment when we are going to be taken seriously, and our car insurance falls considerably low.

We all knew 25 was going to happen. Predictably, I am the one who is anticipating the ugly tornado coming my way. Yeah, the weatherman’s warned me but clearly this is not an option where I can run to the basement and pretend it never happened. 25, from what I’ve heard, changes your life.

Right. So, in my head, I deny the mental list I’d prepared when I was 17. The list that included:
• Learn how to cook
• Become a strategic planner
• Travel to at least 3 countries
• Get a tattoo • Learn to swim • Watch Exorcist • Make it to Business mag’s “Young Achievers” list • Stay in touch with all your college friends • Volunteer a lot • Write a book

Sorry, but 3 out of 10 is a really really bad score. So, clearly, I am not ready for my twenty-five candles yet. And if I am okay in math, I have about 140 days to get them done. O-M-F-G!

I anticipate about 10% increase in respect from my peers and my relatives but I also expect 75% rise in the amount of questions about changing my status from 1 to 2 and probably even 3. Eye-brow raising, sweat soaking, heart-beat rising questions on Marriage, engagement, body clock. Bah! No, don’t have answers to these either.

When I was blowing my 16th candle, no one told me growing up was more than attaining my license to drink and drive, both done mutually exclusively of course. Of course.

So all of you, the ones who smoothly passed 25 and pretended it never happened, the ones who stood in silence trying to cope with hormonal reactions to the big 2-5, the ones who celebrated on top of the Empire State Building felicitating themselves for appreciating the pot-pourri of happy experiences, tell me how to cope with it. I am still a few leaps behind on the calendar but I need to put on my Star Wars robe and pull out my swords, armor myself for the biggest change of my life. Hey, after all, growing up in itself is a big battle against myself.