Twenty Three Syndrome

Today is the eve of my twenty-third birthday. 23 appears to be one of those ages that really has no more meaning than another year of life. Nearly every other birthday I’ve experienced had some significance. Normally another year meant I was allowed to do something new, given more responsibility, or I was classified in a different age group. When I turned 21 I could drink, at 22 I was no longer classified as a 21 year old running around misusing alcohol. Have you ever noticed that people are generally considered an adult after 18 except the age of 21? When you are 21, you are a “twenty one year old.” At 23, you are simply older than you were before.

There is, however, something significant about the age of 23. It appears to me that it is a challenging and messed up long year. This is an observation from my life and some popular songs. I’ve discoverd a number of songs where the character of the song is 23. Some are about love which I don’t feel the need to look into, but 4 songs stood out to me. The most obvious is Blink 182’s “What’s my Age Again?” Simply put, nobody likes it when you’re 23. People expect you to start taking responsibility, but you still want to be an adolescent making dumb decisions and having fun. Eminem wrote the song “Guilty Conscience” where the character of the song is fed up with his life and decides to hold up a liquor store. At 23, it seems that one will realize how boring and crappy life can be and want to make rash decisions to make a change or prevent life from becoming dull. Similarly, Coolio in “Gangster’s Paradise” took a “look at his life and realized there’s nothing left”… “I’m 23 now but will I live to see 24, the way things are going I don’t know.” Finally, Incubus has “Pardon Me.” This is my favorite of the four and I think it necessary to include the lyrics.

A decade ago,

I never thought I would be,

at twenty-three,

on the verge of spontaneous combustion. -Woe-is-me.-

But I guess that it comes with the territory,

An ominous landscape of never-ending calamity.

I need you to hear, I need you to see

that I have had all I can take

and exploding seems like a DEFINITE possibility... to me.

So pardon me while I burst

into flames.

I've had enough of the world

and its people's mindless games.

So pardon me while I burn

and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...I'll never be the same!

I find those lyrics stunning! Though these songs have some major differences, they all have one central theme. The characters are at a major transition in life that they find unappealing and want to fight against it. Things are not what they hoped to be and they want to act like an idiot, do something radical and crazy, or simply combust and get away. What happens in our society that would cause a person at that age to feel this way? They have graduated college and have spent 8 months or so working. I feel that most people are generally excited about starting a career and contributing to society. The beginning of a new job can be a lot of fun. You are getting a pay check, you are learning and contributing and you are thinking about moving out on your own and looking toward the future. This is all very exciting until 5 or 6 months in when you hit a wall.

If you are like me, from middle school on you have had new transitions every 3-4 months. You start school, hit Christmas, and your classes change around. A few months of that and you hit the summer where you get to have some fun and possibly get a full time temporary job. About 3 months of that, and just when you are starting to get tired of it, you realize you have but a couple weeks left until you can quit and start some new classes at school. This is even more obvious when you hit college and change where you live every few months. It is an exciting life, but it causes some problems when you hit the real world. After a few months of 8 hours a day five days a week work, you start to get tired of it. Normally, that isn’t a big deal because you will be quitting soon and going back to school, but not now… It just keeps going. A couple months later, you start to feel the way the song writers are talking about. Crap! I’m an adult and I’m doing something that isn’t very fun and I’m going to be doing it day in and day out for the next 40 years. When this really hits you, you start reacting outwardly. You will try to be the person you used to be and act immaturely, but you never get that back and it annoys other people. That doesn’t work, so you try to change your life drastically by doing something crazy. You rob a store, you blow some stuff up, or you buy something extravagant that you shouldn’t buy. This temporarily helps, but soon you will feel the same way you did before. These things have failed and you start to get really sad and hate life. All you want to do is get away, possibly spontaneously combust, either way, you question if you will ever see 24.

Since tomorrow is my 23rd birthday, you may wonder how it is that I know these things. Do I expect these things to happen to me? No. In all reality, they already have. I have labeled the cause of this 23 syndrome to be college graduation and starting a career. I graduated a semester early in order to get a jump start on my career. The jump start caused me to experience the symptoms of 23 syndrome at the age of 22. Though I am turning 23 tomorrow, I feel that I am turning 24, which consequently happens to be my favorite number. Here is my simple advice for any of those out there experiencing the symptoms of 23 syndrome: Stop hating life and complaining about it, accept the person you are, where God has strategically placed you for His glory, and turn 24. I expect this next year of my life to be less rash and a bit happier.

Good luck to you and have a Merry Christmas.