For better or worse, I have spent the past 23 years playing it safe. I was never big on skipping class, I’ve never done drugs, never really lied to my parents, and I’d probably have a guilty conscience for a year if I ever stole so much as a pack of gum. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this about myself at all. It’s allowed me to successfully make it through college, earn the respect of my peers and stay in the good graces of all my teachers and my friends’ parents, therefore making my educational experience and my social life much more tolerable.

That being said, playing it safe gets really fucking old..

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize that people who play on the other side of the train tracks are having a damn good time doing it. Let me preface this by saying no, I’m not robbing convenience stores, smoking my mind and whoring out on the streets. Really? There are germs involved in all those things, have you met me? But I am allowing myself to live a little bit more. I made a vow that I wouldn’t think so much, I wouldn’t over analyze, and I wouldn’t spend hours trying to figure out what the reasoning behind everything that happened to me was. Essentially, I’m living for the story.

Imagine if your life was a television show or a movie. Would it make it past the pilot? Or the first season? The other night, someone said to me, “You only get to live your life once, and when you’re 80, you want to have no regrets. Most 80-year-old people don’t sit around thinking, ‘Man, I really wish I would have stayed in and gone to bed at 11:00 more often'”…right? I mean, at your 10 year reunion, when everyone is sitting around talking about the crazy stories they’ve accumulated over the years and the stupid-awesome things they’ve done, what story will you tell? The one about that time your cat played with your ball of yarn and totally messed up the scarf you were knitting?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about chilling at home. I’m a firm believer that sweatpants are a gift from God, and sometimes a good book, chick flick or a night of video games is just what we need to fill the night’s time. But when it comes down to it, I want to make sure that I balance out the mundane and routine with enough spontaneity and craziness to look back, smile and think, “Dear God, that shit was CRAZY but so insanely awesome.”

What I’m trying to say is that sometimes we just need to do things for the story we’re going to get out of it. Spontaneous bonfire? Sure. Impromptu roadtrip? Duh. One more round? Always. Most of the people (all like, 50 of you) who read this are at the stage in your life when you have two choices: you can grow up and settle down now, or you can fight adulthood and rebel against the real world. Choose the latter for now. Once you settle down and decide to really be a grown up, you’re introduced to so many new and awesome experiences, but you have your entire life for that. Most people don’t go too crazy in their youth until they’re about 18, which gives us about 7 years of late nights with friends, meeting new people, hitting up happy hours, living without consequence and only looking out for number one. After that, the view changes, and you’ve got the grown-up view for the rest of your life.

Why is everyone in such a hurry to grow up? Slow down. Embrace your youth. Fight reality. Act before you think. Stay out late. Drink a little tequila (okay, a lot of tequila). Go out on a work night. Say yes. Don’t ask questions. Have fun.