Claiming Your 20’s as a Christian

Recently, I watched this provoking TED talk called, “Why 30 is not the new 20.” In it, clinical psychologist Meg Jay challenges people in their 20’s to re-evaluate how they are spending their time and challenges the notion that one’s 20’s is a throwaway decade. She encourages young people to “claim” their 20’s by investing in who they might want to be, pursuing their careers by connecting with people beyond their immediate sphere of connections, and choosing their future families by being intentional about who they date.

One of my friends watched the talk and sent me this question, “That was a really inspirational TED talk – I watched the whole video. But I feel that, perhaps, this doesn’t take into account Christianity. In following God, I feel that I am being asked to forsake all my dreams and desires (a stable career, the opportunity to travel, and perhaps a spouse). I feel that by following God, that I am moving backwards through life. What are your thoughts on this?” Great question.
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Olive in Casablanca

Finding My Voice: Travel While Single

[Finding My Voice is a series of blog posts on key decisions I made in my 20s.]

Defining decision: Travel while I was single

I heard it said once that the decade of one’s 20s was for personal and career exploration, one’s 30s for development, one’s 40s for establishment, one’s 50s as the prime years and one’s 60s and beyond were for passing on the wisdom to those who were younger. This made sense to me, so in my 20s, I took what opportunities I could to explore more of who I was. Part of this exploration included travelling.
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