Since when has there been a wrong side of 25?

When I was growing up, 30 seemed to be the age when you became maybe a little bit old. Maybe. More like grown up. 30 seemed the magical number that would bestow you with some wisdom. On the eve of my 31st birthday I can confirm that that isn't true. I do feel a little older and wiser, but then I've done a lot of wisening over the last 2 years since I hit the final year of my 20s.

I'm not sure whether it is the blogger revolution that has started this, or whether they have just magnified something that already existed, but I see an awful lot of bloggers (and now seemingly friends) writing about being on the wrong side of 25.

Come on people!!

Maybe it's because my 25th birthday coincided with filing divorce papers and ramping up for an election year. Maybe it's because my 25th birthday was accompanied by the first flushes of new love, by my new beau meeting my parents for the first time, or the awesome dinner we had (I think we went to Michael Caines Brasserie). Whatever it was, turning 25 didn't seem like that big of a deal. I didn't suddenly feel an overwhelming pull to use anti ageing products, I certainly didn't think that I was on the wrong side of anything (well, except the long, pathetic email I received from the ex the morning of my birthday).

So what gives bloggers? When did 25 start being this big milestone age?

Image from www.bigstockphoto.com

Quite frankly, I feel quite affronted when I read something in a blog post saying something about approaching 25, or being the wrong side of 25. Does that make me over the hill then? Shall I just resign myself to a downward spiral of, well, everything?

(I also realise that the very fact that this makes me grumpy is a sign of my age.)

And what is a quarter life crisis? Surely at 25 we are supposed to be at our prime! I asked my older cousins once whether they had a favourite age, and I remember the eldest telling me that 25 was her favourite age - she was old enough to do what she wanted and be in charge of her destiny, but young enough not to have to care too much. I think I kept that in mind as I celebrated and partied through my mid-twenties. I think I also experienced something of a rebirth as I turned 25, shedding a life that had grown to make me miserable, and starting a new one with people who made me happy.

Having said all that, I am rather enjoying being 30ish. It isn't just about the number, but the my current situation, which makes me rather happy. I'm not sure how it would have worked out if I was 25 right now. Although when I was 25 I became the Deputy Leader of Exeter City Council and had a lot of responsibility! My colleagues last year described me as Benjamin Button, doing everything backwards, and I guess that is somewhat true. I took on all the big stuff when I was younger and now I'm relaxing into what I think is going to be my best decade yet.