- Marissa George
10 Good and Bad Things about Adulthood No one warned us About
I remember distinctly being 17 and wanting so desperately to be an adult. To my 17 years old self adults had it all. They could make their own decisions, they could live on their own, they drove themselves anywhere they wanted, and most importantly to my 17 year old self, they didn't have to listen to their parents. Oh to be young and naive. I do not know why adulthood looks so darn appealing to teenagers. Maybe its because we claim to be the authority on everything and so its assumed that we must have all the power, and all the answers, and have it all figured out, wrong. Looking back i wish more adults sat me down and told me the honest truth about the many responsibilities of being an adult. That yes, there are some great benefits, but there are also an equal amount of bad to go along with the good. Coming up with this list of the good and the bad things of adulthood was all to easy. I believe most if not all of these things will resonate with any adult who thinks they've been tricked into growing up. Here are my list of the good and bad things about adulthood we are all too familiar with.
THE GOOD
1. Money
Ahh the sweet sweet smell of cold hard cash ! The best thing about being an adult is actually having money to do things. I remember being in college and being super broke and wishing i had a full time adult job that payed enough to allow me certain luxuries. Because lets face it, when you are a college student the only luxury you can afford is different flavor ramen noodles. Fast forward to my 30's and being the Doordash queen that i am, i'd say my ramen noodle days are a thing of the past.
2.Flexibility
As a single women i can literally pick up and go whenever i want to and it is pretty amazing. As i type this i am in New York for the week and will travel back to California in a few days. I know not everyone has that level of flexibility, but as an adult we do have the privilege of being flexible when our lifestyles afford us to. So the next time you wish you were kid again, remember that if you packed your bags and left someone would most likely file a missing persons report and you would most likely not make it through airport security.
3. Because i said so
As an adult people have to listen to you. Ok not everyone will listen, but you have a voice, so use it wisely. You have the power to string together words that can actually impact those around you. You get to be an expert at something, you get to say no to things you do not like and not get in trouble for being rude ! Oh how amazing it is to be able to speak your mind.
4.Autonomy
You are in charge of you! Even if you are married or have children you are still responsible for your own self. As adults we get to decide how we will treat ourselves whether that be physically, emotionally or mentally. We are autonomous. Being autonomous is incredibly powerful, most people do not think about how they have control over themselves because they forget what it was like being a child, and having someone else make their decisions. You now have control over the most precious thing you own, yourself.
5.Lifestyle
When was the last time you thought about your lifestyle? If you never have, you should because you get to decide what your lifestyle entails. You get to decide if you are a homebody, a party gal or guy, an outdoors lover, the list goes on. How amazing is it that we get to curate our lives and live on purpose, with purpose.
THE BAD
1. Money
There is a reason the bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10 that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Cold hard cash can sometimes be very stressful, especially if you have no idea how to manage money. College is usually our first experience with having a salary, and it is also a good indication of whether or not we will be wise stewards of our money or always broke. We quickly learn in adulthood that an increase of money does not equate to happiness or sudden knowledge of how to handle it. Being in debt does not have to be a part of being an adult, but unfortunately circumstances and sometimes poor choices leave us in a lasting bad relationship with money.
2. Flexibility
I remember in my high school math classroom there was a poster that said "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". That statement has never been more appropriate than when we talk about adulthood and time management. We the adults are very poor time managers. We spend way to much time on social media, Netflix, and doing a whole lot of pointless things. And we wonder why we have absolutely no flexibility with our time. Like money if you do not budget your time you can not expect to have flexibility to do more of what you love. period.
3. Because i said so
We live in a society where adults can say whatever they want and not really pay the consequences for it. Maybe its because we do not see the value in our words anymore. Either thats the explanation or we have actually believed the childhood rhyme that says "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". That rhyme was stupid when we were kids, and its still stupid now. Words do hurt, so the next time you are tempted to say something mean or rude, ask yourself if you would want to be told the same thing.
4. Autonomy
I truly believe as a christian women that we are created in God's image, i truly believe that our bodies are a temple to be treated with reverence. So why on earth do i treat myself so poorly? Being autonomous and being in charge of myself does not mean i actually know how to care for myself. scratch that, what i mean to say is we have the tools and the knowledge to care for ourselves, but we never put them into practice. What's so good about being independent if i am not treating the one body and mind that i have with the utmost care.
5. Lifestyle
No one thinks about curating a lifestyle, everyone just jumps on bandwagons. In a society that puts so much emphasis on individuality, we as adults do a poor job teaching the younger generation about how to actually live a lifestyle that is healthy and individualistic. Instead we adopt whatever is the rage and continue into this cycle until we burn out. This doesn't just include the traditional party girl or guy reckless lifestyle. But rather the adult 2.0 version of unhealthy, workaholism, poor sleep hygiene, poor eating habits, and emotional instability. This is often the lifestyle praised by adults who proudly proclaim that they do not have time to sleep, time to eat, often need to work late and is disconnected with themselves. If this is your cycle, congratulations your adulting wrong. Every day affords us the opportunity to make changes to our lives, we are adults after all! We learn from our shortcomings and adjust accordingly. Deep down we know that the bad doesn't have to stay bad, and the good that we have is worth celebrating. So the next time the weight of adult life seems too much to carry, remember that its ok to not have it all figured out. Adulthood is a long distance race not a sprint to the finish line.
