Because my world didn’t end at 21…

If you have been on TikTok this past week, chances are you have come across the latest trend. And if, by some wild chance you have been living under a rock, let me catch you up: People are dropping videos of themselves living their best lives with some emotional music in the background and a caption that goes “Because my world didn’t end when [insert challenging situation here]”. Scrolling through those videos felt like taking a stroll down memory lane. They resonated deeply with me and I couldn’t help but put my phone away and think about my own “challenging situation”.

Let’s rewind to my 21st year of life. It was one of the craziest chapters in my book. Picture this: Fresh out of a toxic relationship, school was a battleground, my mental health hit rock bottom and self-esteem was nowhere in sight. Cherry on the top: I was living abroad, 2000 kms away from my loved ones. I felt lonely, lost, strange to myself. I felt like a complete failure in every conceivable aspect of life. I spent days in bed mourning my fate, crying myself to sleep. I was persuaded that that was it for me — Game over. I truly believed there is no bouncing back from this and that I have irreversibly screwed my life. Some might say the 21-year-old me was a bit of a drama queen. At some point, I myself have also said it. But thinking about it now, I realize it’s unfair to label her as such. She was raw, vulnerable, a newcomer to hardships. She grappled with the feeling of failure and didn’t quite know how to step back and approach situations objectively.

I believe that’s exactly why life- being the relentless teacher that it is- stepped in. It wanted to teach me some lessons. And indeed I learned a thing or two about resilience, self-love and bouncing back. I understood that hitting rock bottom doesn’t mean the game is over — it means there’s only one way to go: up. And I consider that to be the most valuable takeaway from my 21st year of life.

Now at 26, life hasn’t magically become a walk in the park. It continues to throw its curveballs and if anything they got more complex. It is my mindset however that shifted. I approach problems differently. I am more aware of my will power and I consider resilience as muscle that I can flex when bouncing back and train when facing hardships.

So, here’s to the 21-year-old me and to anyone witnessing their own world crumble: It always takes a breakdown to experience a breakthrough. There is no eternal problem. After every hardship, there’s a pause, a breath, a moment of relief. And it’s within these moments that we find the strength to rise, not just back to where we were but to heights we never imagined.