22 Things I Don’t Care About At Age 22

Identifying the things that don’t matter to us could help us recognize the things that do. This revelation was brought to me by Thought Catalog’s Brianne McDonald, who wrote “26 Things I Don’t Care About at 26.” It got me thinking about the twenty-two things that I truly don’t care about at age twenty-two.

1. Defending my opinions on those controversial issues on which everyone seems to have a stance.

Abortion, gay marriage, welfare. Yes, I have strong opinions on these things, but I have no desire to share them. Honestly, my position on many controversial topics deviates from the norm, so why bother fighting with people? I know what I believe, and I shouldn’t have to defend it.

2. My childlike eating habits and how unhealthy they are.

It’s just a chicken nugget—back off! If you want to preach to someone about being healthy and taking care of their body, go find a chain smoker or a heroin addict. I’m fine.

3. Making excuses for being an introvert and a homebody.

If I want to stay in on a Saturday night, that’s exactly what I am going to do. I don’t like going to parties with a bunch of people that I don’t know, and sometimes I am too broke (or just not in the mood) to go out bar-hopping. You may think of me as a stick in the mud, but I perceive it as me not doing something that I don’t want to do simply to appease others—because that would be dumb.

4. The annoying things that people post on Facebook.

Unfriend.

5. Being tan.

I tried for years to fight my inevitable paleness, and it has been one of my biggest insecurities to date. But I’d just go through several days of a miserable sunburn and then revert right back to pasty white, and for what? If you don’t think my porcelain complexion is attractive, you don’t have to look.

6. Saving money for the future.

I know, that’s bad, but I honestly can’t afford it right now. I have student loans and bills to pay and I’m living on an intern’s salary. Annndd I have a shopping addiction…but whatever, you can’t take it with you when you go.

7. Being in a relationship.

In my opinion, your early to mid-twenties are the years when it is best to be single. This is the age that we really figure out who we are, what we want, and more importantly, what we deserve. If a great guy comes along I’ll take it, but I’m not looking. Right now I am learning how to love myself, and that is so much more important.

8. Trying to make new friends.

I have friends, and they are more amazing than I could have ever hoped for.

9. What people think about my tattoos.

I will always stand by my post “Why I Will Never Regret My Tattoos.” People have strong opinions about body modification, and I have taken a visually obvious stance on the matter.

10. Where I live.

Right now, I’m happy in Pittsburgh. If a great opportunity comes up elsewhere, maybe I’ll move. But in my opinion saying, “I’m not staying here…I have to get out of here someday” is just as self-restricting as saying that I’ll never leave. I’m just going with the flow.

11. Going out in public alone.

Unlike when I started college, I am perfectly fine having lunch in Panera by myself, and I don’t need an escort to the restroom when I am out with my girlfriends.

12. Designer labels.

Yeah, I love to shop, but I could not care less about who designed the dress I’m wearing.

13. If people think that I’m weird.

I like unicorns and coloring books and I daydream about being a mermaid. Hey, I like what I like.

14. How I act when I am intoxicated.

For a long time I would become very paranoid once I got a couple drinks in me, because I felt like I was annoying people. I still think I probably annoy people when I’m drunk; I just don’t care.

15. Being intoxicated.

I’m not in college anymore, so I don’t have to “drink to get drunk” every weekend. I’m just as happy unwinding with a glass of wine or two. OK, three.

16. Getting all sexy to “bump into” my exes on a night out.

Why put any of my precious time and energy into trying to impress someone who is 100% in my past? Frankly, some of them I’d just prefer to never see again, regardless of what I look like.

17. Censoring myself—what I say, what I do, and how I choose to live my life.

This is who I am. I don’t care if you don’t like me.

18. Going to the dentist.

I just don’t want to do it.

19. Checking items off of my bucket list.

I’ve found that the best experiences and memories come when you least expect them. Someday when I am looking back on my life, I probably won’t even think about the time I went skydiving or swam with dolphins. I am going to remember random nights of laughing with my friends and low-maintenance camping trips with my family.

20. Attempting to remedy my OCD.

Yeah, so I hang up my clothes in rainbow order and rewrite pages in my notebook if my handwriting doesn’t look perfect. It’s not a waste of time if it helps me sleep at night.

21. The malicious things that people have said to me and the unfair ways that people have treated me.

I came out of it a stronger person, and you came out of it looking like an asshole.

22. Having a five-year plan.

Five years?! I don’t know where I am going to be five days from now, and that is way more exciting.