21

Yesterday was my 21st birthday.

 

 

 

To some people 21 is the age that they can't wait to be, and they look forward to it for months, sometimes maybe even years. Then, for their birthdays, friends take them out clubbing, or to a bar, and they end up getting wasted, not remembering half of the night, then waking up the next morning with a banging headache, feeling like crap.

 

But this is what you're supposed to do, right? It's what our culture teaches us, isn't it? How many movies come out each year that depict a scene like this?

 

Personally though, I don't understand the allure. What is the point of going out drinking, for the sole purpose of getting drunk? This part of American culture has never made sense to me. I prefer the way that many Europeans, such as the French or Italian, seem to treat alcohol. As an accompaniment.

Good wine accompanies good food and good company, and you aren't trying to drink each other under the table for sport. This way of thinking (and drinking) makes so much more sense to me.

 

 I would much rather have a good time and remember everything that happened, then waking up the next morning with a pounding head, worried that I might have done something the night before that I might regret.

 

Saying that, I believe that how you act is up to you and that you shouldn't act a certain way just because you're afraid that you won't fit in or someone will judge you. Everyone is different and has different beliefs, and you should be true to yourself, no matter what. 

 

Anyways, I have to say that I am definitely glad to be 21 now, for several reasons. Now I can buy alcohol for certain recipes that I've been wanting to try, I can go wine tasting at one of the MANY wineries that surround where I live, and now I can go out for a night with friends, without having to worry about not being old enough.

 

 I think being 21 is fantastic and I have to agree with a quote on the inside of a birthday card i was sent:

 "Don't think of this as just another birthday, think of it as an all-access, V.I.P., backstage ticket to the world."

 

A ticket to the world, that is definitely how I see it, and I won't be wasting it either. I'm planning on making the rest of my life the best of my life, and I know there will be many adventures to come!

 

♥ Hannah