WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ADULT

More and more every day, I start to understand that this thing called growing
up is just learning to deal with it. When you’re younger, people pamper you
and give you free passes when things are hard to handle. You’re allowed a
certain number of absences from school, people will defend you and say,
“He/she is just a kid” and adults will cover for you and stand by your side to
show you how to do things.

Being an adult isn’t about your age or even your maturity — being an adult is
simply taking responsibility for yourself and accepting control over your own
life. You have to get out of bed and go to classes or work even when you
don’t feel like it. You have to learn how to maneuver through social
interactions and events even if you’re feeling crabby. No one tells you what
you can or can’t do, you’re just trapped by what you do or don’t do. If you
decide not to go to work, you don’t get paid. If you don’t want to go to classes,
you’re wasting the money you spent on your education. And it’s all up to you.
No one will cover for you. No one will say, “He/she is just a human being.”
That’s true. You are only human. But part of being human is taking
responsibility for the space and time you take up as you exist.

The majority of adult life consists of sucking it up and actually figuring things
out when you realize you don’t know what you’re doing, as opposed to sitting
in your bed and freaking out about things and leaving them until later. Being
an adult doesn’t mean you have your shit together. It’s better to realize sooner
than later that no one ever really perfectly has their shit together, and it’s a
waste of time to panic over or pity yourself for the thought that you are so
much less capable of other people or that anyone has it more together than
you do.

Because it’s not true. We’re all in the same boat trying to juggle the
responsibilities of being human and surviving and being able to smile at the
end of the day. You have to understand that most of life is not about how
strong you are or how little you freak out, it’s about putting in the effort anyway
despite not feeling strong and not knowing if you’re capable.

I woke up today not wanting to leave bed or go to work but quickly realized
that no one was going to make me, and no one was going to tell me it was
alright not to go. I had to make a decision based on my personal obligations
and the obligation I have to myself.

Someday you’re going to look at your life and realize that you were controlling
most of the strings. It took me a long time to accept and be able to grasp the
concept that you’re as free as you allow yourself to be.

It sounds hard. But just mull over it for a minute.