Then, one day, it settled into a calm and peaceful pond."
Here are their most fascinating responses:
1.
“I used to cry all the time whenever I felt even a little bit emotional.
Got upset at work?
Felt a little too much in the middle of a Target?
Then, when I turned 25, myemotionsregulated and became more manageable, kind of like magic.”
or ‘Can you work late tonight and cover for XYZ?’
I’d been taught that if someone needed help with something, the answer was ‘sure!’
“I spent my early 20s twisting myself into knots to help out everyone around me.
The minute I started setting healthier boundaries, I swear half my day-to-day stress just melted away.
“emilym4e8497a33
3.
A ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ mentality without fully realizing just how much you’re faking it.
I wish I had the confidence at work I had when I was 23.”
lobster_lemon_lime
4.
“I started holding myself accountable when I turned 25.
“I went to therapy and took it seriously for the first time.
Anonymous
5.
I have near whiplash from the change in experience just by being surrounded by the right people.
“Anonymous
6.
“I felt the change.
I felt like I started seeing things clearer.
It’s crazy, and I miss being tight with her.
Maybe I just changed.
“Anonymous
7.
“That being alone is okay.
I absolutely love being home alone, and I get angry when my alone time is not respected.
If you would’ve told me this at 20, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Also, having one-on-one time with one friend or at MAX two is better than hanging in a group.
“I got engaged at 24 and called it off at 25.
I am happy for brain development and the end of a relationship that I didn’t deserve.
“I was a spoiled child when I was younger.
As I entered my mid-20s, I became more patient and kind.
I stopped throwing tantrums when things didn’t go my way and started being kinder to others.”
RM
10.
Then, one day, it settled into a calm and peaceful pond.
Everything that used to feel like theend of the worldno longer bother me.
I love the peace it has brought me in every aspect of my life.”
“I stopped feeling invincible.
Before 25/26, ‘bad things’ happened to other people, but not to me.
With age comes wisdom, and reality hits.
But by the grace of God, I am alive and relatively healthy.
Life can change in a heartbeat, and it can happen to me.”
“When my frontal lobe fully developed, a stronger sense of responsibility no longer haunted me.
I felt more ready and proud to take that on.
But it also really depends on having good people around you and a strong support system.
And therapy really helps, too!”
“I had been only able to think short-term, and suddenly, I was able to think long-term.
I used to have trouble making plans more than a week away.”
It literally felt like ‘growing up.'”
I went back to school and got my teaching certificate and haven’t looked back since.”
bethechangeyouwanttosee
19.
It was seriously almost an overnight realization.
hannahewildes
20.
“My empathy became much more fine-tuned.
“I don’t feel like I know everything anymore.
I can admit when I am wrong or don’t know something.
The world won’t come crashing down around me.
I think it’s a sign of maturity to admit it.”
StrCar
24.
“I finally started realizing that you’re free to let friendships go.
Sometimes, you grow out of each other, and that’s okay.”
And finally…
25.
“I became more aware that my drinking was no longer normal.
