Every girl in her twenties (including me) knows that these years are a mixed bag of emotions. This is the best time of our lives but it involves a ridiculous amount of soul searching.  The inspiration for this post follows my own attempts to be the adult that we think we're supposed to be. So here are 10 awkward dilemmas that every girl in her twenties will have experienced. You know the struggle girls. 

Trying to be down with the kids, but also wanting to just listen to your music from the nineties

Since entering my twenties I swear I have no clue who is even in the charts. I’m stuck in a period between the nineties and the noughties and I'm not ready to leave yet. I just want to listen to Destiny’s Child and TLC and anything else they play on Kisstory. I’m okay with this on the one hand. But on the other, not knowing that The Weeknd is one person, and not a band, does make you feel about 50 years old in front of your mates, and will entail many a joke at your expense.  

The dilemma of where to shop now that you’re meant to dress like an adult?

I swear you spend your entire teen years buying everything from Topshop and H&M – and now it’s got boring. Suddenly you’re over it. Also when you see a 16 year old girl wearing the same Topshop top as you, something needs to change, doesn’t it? Then you’re like where the hell do I go now? It’s deffo too soon to be shopping at Next. Well basically I had this dilemma a few weeks back and discovered that Mango is my new favourite shop. Despite previously thinking it was for 40 something women, it’s actually a good mix of cool and sophistication.

Wanting to party all night, but also just wanting to go for a civilised dinner

At this point in your life there have been a million drunken messy nights that you can’t remember. Therefore a civilised meal and glass of wine at restaurant with your pals is a sensible outing to look forward to, as is getting home at a reasonable hour (no one wants to waste the following day hungover). But then we STILL insist that we ‘need’ a night out, telling our friends we need to plan a BIG night. Then when you finally go out everyone in the club is 18 and horny, the music is far too loud and slowly you realise you don’t belong here. You don’t need a big club night out cause you’re just gonna hate it. But then abandoning big nights out is like saying farewell to being young forever!

  

Deciding whether you care about healthy eating or not

Now you’re in your 20s you’ve probably accepted and embraced your body by now which is great. So you can just enjoy life because eating is basically a hobby, and we’re always being told we need a hobby right? But even though you don’t care about being stick thin anymore there is an overwhelming paranoia as you plough through your second McDonalds of the week that you might get diabetes or a million other health problems. And that just *maybe* next time you should just have McDonalds once and maybe alternate with some kind of quinoa and edamame salad. (It’ll be rubbish though).

Wanting to see your friends but also just wanting to stay in bed

When you leave school or uni, it definitely takes more effort to meet up with your friends. But by the time the week is over and you’ve finished work, all you want to do is have a quiet bath, watch Gogglebox and crawl into bed, even if it is 9pm on a Friday night. Yes it’s bad and you shouldn’t ditch your friends but OMG 12 hours sleep without an alarm, um yes please!

Debating spending your pay cheque on nice clothes or on extravagant food

When I was young I spent all my money on clothes (like Playboy and Pineapple – what a waste of money FFS wish I could get that back).Anyway, I remember thinking it’s gonna be SO GOOD when I’m older and earning money and can afford loads of nice clothes. Except this hasn’t ever happened because I spend £££££££ a day on food, because a breakfast ham and cheese croissant and a lunchtime burrito can really get you through a tough day.

Flipping between caring and not caring about how others perceive you

Fortunately, by the time you reach your 20s you’re no where near as insecure as your teens. But obviously, everyone still cares a bit. I think it comes down what kind of validation you want. I don’t care if someone thinks I’m unattractive or weird, but I’d get upset if someone assumed I’m dumb because I’m from Essex, or that I was a bitch when actually I’m squinting because I need glasses.

Feeling like you’re a super successful go-getter, but also feeling like a pathetic loser

Sometimes you can feel so positive about where you are in life now. You can have the confidence of Beyonce. Then the next minute you’re crying in the foetal position wishing that Monday’s or taxes didn’t exist. My friends bought me a mug for my birthday which says “Britney survived 2007, you can handle today” and as well as being hilarious, it’s also all you need to hear when you have one of those days.

Wanting to please your family, but also wanting to do your own thing

You’ve heard this all before. Sadly we don’t all dream of being a lawyer which upsets our parents who just want you to earn loads of money and be stable. But I’d rather do what I love and be a bit financially unstable. Your twenties are of course about figuring this out on your own. So while there are a lot of awkward dilemmas in your twenties, it's pretty cool that we can determine for ourselves who we want to be as a person.