As children, it seems that all we’ve ever wanted to do is grow up. Why, as mature young adults, we would be able to receive so many privileges, including voting rights, driving rights, drinking rights, and most importantly, the right to govern ourselves. There will be no more parents ordering us around 24/7, whether it’s hustling us to wash the dishes or to finish 5 more mind-twisting pages of that Calculus workbook. We can do whatever we want. Isn’t that wonderful? Wouldn’t we all want to quickly grow up if life was so great?
When you turn 18 you enter adulthood. It’s the first time you will truly be free, right? But before we come to that conclusion, let’s rethink it. Will you really be free when you grow up? Everything just seems too perfect- free of parents, rules, homework, etc;
Now think again. As an adult will you really be free? Your parents will be replaced by a boss who tells you day and night to stop slacking off, to work harder, to meet deadlines. Rules will be replaced by laws, with much more serious consequences if broken. When you finally turn 18, you will receive rights that you have never had before, such as the right to vote, make a will, sue in your own name, make a contract in your own name, apply for credit in your own name, receive medical treatment without parents’ consent, and be completely independent from parental control. It sounds wonderful- your life is finally yours. But, within the set of rights you receive in adulthood are also the right to be sued on the contracts you make, eligibility for jury duty, and for males, a requirement to register for the military draft, and finally the right to pay taxes and bills. Not only do you now have to pay taxes to support the government, you are now subjected to a list of responsibilities. As an adult, you will be legally and personally accountable for your actions.
One main contributor to our lives right now is our parents. That may sound like a bad thing. Who needs parents? We’re fine on our own as mature, independent adults. Parents are the chains that bond us to the household. Everything goes through parents: classes, grades, sleepovers, movies, and even a potential mate. Their tight grip on us have shaped our lives- until adulthood. Then you are finally released from their firm grasps and you are able to shape your own life, pursue your own ambitions. But it isn’t until you finally leave your parents, that reality crashes upon you. Your parents have fed, taught, cared, monitored, and loved you. Where will they be once you become an adult? Once you get married and settle in a house on your own, they won’t always be there for you. Your parents might live on a different street, in a different city, state, or even a different country. You’re on your own. That’s the time that you realize you will have to work for every bite of a meal. Food is no longer “free,” as it was in the household. Your parents won’t be there to provide you with every meal. You will also start to pay monthly rent for a place to live. Bills and tax forms will be mailed to your house and have to be filled. You are introduced to a new world revolving around money and payments, and the consequences of falling into debt. To be successful, you must abandon the feckless side of you and grow to be much more responsible. It isn’t until adulthood that you come to appreciate all that your parents have done for you. You’ll realize the most basic things you’ve taken for granted: food and shelter, will require labor and hard work to achieve.
To survive in the adult-world you will need self-determination, but it only takes you so far. No-one will be there to remind you of what to do or how to take care of yourself. You work and make a living out of your own self-determination. It’s hard staying on top your game, and if you do fall behind, there’s no guarantee of what the consequences will become. You may lose property, go bankrupt, get sued, sent to jail, or worse.
Life is unfair. Remember when you were 4 and your little brother got to play outside while you had to stay in and practice piano? “That’s so not fair!” you would whine to your father. “Honey, life’s not fair.” He would say. Becoming an adult doesn’t make things any more fair. In fact; unfair scenarios increase in the adult-world. Sometimes you’re payed less than you deserve. Or maybe your boss seems to favor the new rookie more than you. Maybe you finally got the promotion to work for the big boss, one of your dream-jobs, but turns out you’re only the convenient handy-man, while everyone else mocks and laughs at your behind their desks. And that colleague of yours- you’re contributing and doing twice as much as he is, yet you’re only payed 10% of his salary. You tell your boss, but he just tells you to get over it. Life is not fair. In fact, it will never be.
The adult life isn’t as sweet as it seems, and can be extremely tough and stressful at times; so be sure to enjoy and appreciate your youth, when you can still be that young, innocent, carefree child. As Shakespeare has once said “Youth’s a stuff that will not endure.” Youth does not last, so make the most of it. After all, it’s part of your life, and you don’t want to miss any bit of it.
