Challenges of Adulthood

It’s funny how adulthood doesn’t always turn out the way that you planned as a kid. I remember having a grand vision for my life as a kid that included doing what I wanted when I wanted to. Each birthday was a year closer to being 18 which was the magic number in my mind where I would suddenly emancipate from the endless rules of my parents. One perk of having a non-traditional education meant that i had a little more time than most my age. After finishing high school a few weeks after I turned 17 I decided that I wanted to take a break so I did. For the next year I chilled at home and took community college classes with the intention to hit the ground running when I began college. The great thing about that year was that I could collect my thoughts with minimal responsibilities. During that time I sold books door to door and even sold knives. I know a lot of people who went directly from high school to college and still had no idea what they wanted to do with their life. They go through a year or two and drift from major to major spending large amounts of money they don’t really have. The thing about young adulthood is that you expect to have more answers than you did as a kid when in fact you just encounter more questions. You want the world to be black and white but sometimes it ends up being a really weird shade of gray. The thing I like about being an adult is that it was similar to what I imagined as a kid. I do what I want, when I want. The sad part is that there are also hundreds of stipulations to that simple fact. The stakes are higher, the consequences for stupid mistakes can easily wreck the future. It’s similar to driving in a fog on a dark night. You know where you’re going but still can’t see five feet ahead of you and your headlights just illuminate how much more fog is ahead.

2 thoughts on “Challenges of Adulthood

  1. eptaf says:

    Hi,
    Your post is quite appealing. Struggling to maintain one’s principles and values in this grey shaded reality is tough. One has to very alert to keep their principles undiluted.

  2. When I was younger I thought the same thing. I thought turning 18 equaled freedom and possibilities. I thought it would flip a magical switch that would make me understand my life and have the freedom and ability to make it all happen. Now I am 19 and I know it doesn’t really work that way. It definitely comes with more freedom, but that freedom comes with crazy responsibility. I love how you said “You know where you’re going but still can’t see five feet ahead of you…” So true! But the awesome thing about it is, even though you are driving in the fog, you are still driving. You still get to decide who you are and where you are going. Its overwhelming and scary, but a good and exciting responsibility. – Gabriella

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