Turning 24 was not a pleasant day for me. If this was the 90s, I'd have a mortgage and my shit together by now. Instead I rarely remember weekends and am living week to week in a pile of my own regrets. For every bad thing about turning 24 though, there are many more good things. Here are 24 surprisingly great perks of turning 24:
1) You'll Probably Have More Money Than You've Ever Had Before
You go from school to college where you haven't got two cents to rub together for the entire time that you're there. So, aged 24 and assuming that you've finished college, you'll probably have some spare change for the first time in your life. Relish it. Spend it.
2) You'll Get To Enjoy Weekends, Probably For The First Time In A Long Time
Since I can't actually remember school weekends (is that bad?) and most normal (poor) people had to work weekends throughout college, this may, in fact, be the first time that you'll properly get to enjoy or even have a weekend. As an adult who has only recently joined the weekend game, I can safely say that they're fucking great.
3) You'll Get On With Your Parents Better Than You Ever Have
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They reared you from a constant shitting, dribbly little nightmare and you were nothing but awful to them for years. Now that you're older and a tad wiser, you can appreciate them and get along as adults. How mature of you.
4) Likewise With Your Siblings
As with your siblings, you spent years arguing, hating, even resenting them. Then you grow up and realise how shit life would be if you'd been an only child (no offence to the only children out there).
5) You're Meeting New And Exciting People All The Time
No longer are you living in the days of having to put up with dickheads infiltrating your oxygen supply left, right and centre. By this stage, people in your life are there because you appreciate them as a person. End of. Haters gonna hate. The haters being me.
6) You're Starting To Feel More Comfortable In Your Own Skin
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Cast your mind back to the pubescent years of yonder. What utterly bleak, awkward times they were. Now you've had a few years to adapt to yourself, a few years to figure it all out in college and you're at your most assured stage yet.
7) You're Probably Having The Best Sex Of Your Life, Thus Far
By now you're likely to have passed the awkward first stages of sexperimentation. You've had the terrible experiences, in fact, you could probably write a book about it (or a few sneaky articles, heh heh). This is the time to embrace being young. In other words, have as much great sex as you possibly can. That's an order.
8) It's A Great Time To Be In A Relationship
Your college years are for playing the field so being 24 and past all that is the perfect time to get into a relationship. You're mature enough for some level of commitment while being fun enough to go out and enjoy yourselves together. It's the ideal scenario really.
9) Assignments And Study Are A Distant Thing Of The Past
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This is, in my experience, one of the best perks of turning 24. The day I handed in my last essay full of tears and bullshit was one of sheer and utter ecstasy. Not having to fill page after page with things that I did not wish to think about anymore, was a great time to be alive.
10) Your Hangovers, While Horrific, Are Nothing Compared To How Bad They'll Be In Six Years
In comparison to the hangovers I suffered from aged eighteen, yes, nowadays the morning after tends to be rather tough, but from what I've been told, things are going to get much, much worse so for now, I'll try and be appreciative of only vomiting six times in one sitting.
11) You Can Be Friends With Whoever You Want
See number five. No longer do you have to pretend to like that person with the lacking sense of humour. Befriend the weird, wonderful and kind. The choice is all yours.
12) You're Probably Living In Your First Real Ok-ish House
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Aside from your home house, that is. After possibly four years of living in what could only be described as a semi crack den, anything, even a step up from that, is a vast improvement.
13) Impromptu Trips Away Are Always On The Cards
No longer do you have to spend your spare time whiling away the hours in your bedroom. Now you have the possibility of jetting off to some obscure European city, for no good reason other than the flights cost a fiver. Why not?
14) You're Both Fairly Mature And Yet Relatively Responsibility Free, The Best Of Both Worlds
Yes, you're now an adult, maybe you have a real job and you can no longer lean on your parents for everything, yet it's considered perfectly normal to go out and get pissed on a regular basis, plus you have no other human being to care for, bar yourself. Ideal on so many levels.
15) You Finally Might Have Some Idea Of What You Want To Do With Your Life (Maybe)
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Or maybe not, but if nothing else you're a step closer to discovering what it is that you love or indeed hate doing. Trail and error, nothing is out of your reach.
16) You Now Have Some Idea As To What Kind Of Drunk You Are
Aggressive, crying, dancing, tired, mental, hungry, loving...which one are you? After packing what is likely to be a good eight years of drinking experience under your belt, you're much better equipped to deal with your drunk self now than you were back in the day.
17) You Can Pass Insightful And Wise Knowledge Onto Younger People
Not that anyone in their right mind should listen to you. Well, did you listen to anyone when you were 15? Exactly. Point proven.
18) You Are Now Very Clear Cut About What You Do And Don't Like
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This can extend to food, alcohol, countries, people, animals, hobbies, music, films, games or your cousins. In no particular order.
19) You Finally Feel Like Less Of A Burden To Your Parents
Thankfully for them, you no longer take up room in their home (probably), squander their money, bother them for shit or come home drunk at four in the morning and wake them up. Lucky them.
20) The Fact That You've Made It This Far Makes You Feel Great
Sure, there are some 24-year-olds out there who have achieved much more than any of us could ever imagine. Still, the fact that you've got this far without serving prison time should be celebrated. Well done you.
21) You're Far Less Of A Disgusting Human Being Now
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The older you get the more you realise that it's important to not smell like the inside of a boys bed sheets. Washing yourself, having clean, neat clothes, eating well and not drinking nine times a week all suddenly start becoming natural to you. Look at that, you're growing before our eyes.
22) You Can Now Participate In Adult Conversations With Some Confidence
When you're still in college, you are, in your older relations' eyes, still a child going through the paces of education. Basically, unless you're going to tell them all about your wild nights out, then fuck off and leave them alone. Once you're out in the real world (most likely to happen around the 24 mark) though, you're suddenly deemed old and worthy of their time and attention.
23) You Have Finally Found Your Drink
Because you've probably been drinking for so long now, you should know what gets you nicely buzzed and what puts you in hospital. That's the hope at least.
24) You Feel Smug When You Get Asked For ID
For years you dreaded approaching the bouncers. Those big, angry, 'potential to ruin your night' holding men. Now, upon approaching the door and being asked to produce ID, you feel more than a little smug on the inside. Still got it.
