The Reason ‘Adulting’ is So Roughfeatured

I have had a rough couple of weeks and I couldn’t really understand why for the longest time.

I was on edge, and most things would bring me to tears. Good or bad, I was fragile and lost because the “unknown” was rearing itself before me.

The future became a bigger question mark than ever and I just couldn’t deal with it. I went through these emotions in the best way that I know how. By feeling them and letting them flow through me. I did this for as long as I could until I couldn’t.

This week I finally understood why I felt so broken. I have been fighting ‘adulting.’ I have been in denial that I am no longer in my early 20s and life will simply not be as easy as it has ever been before.

When you are young, falling on the playground is your biggest hurdle of the day. When you’re in your teens, having your heart broken makes you physically ill. When you’re in college, missing a cool party or having to retake a class can seem like the end of the world.

As an adult, none of that nonsense matters. All of a sudden you start experiencing “adult” problems. These problems look nothing like those of your past. They are career crossroads, homeowner-related emergencies, communication misunderstandings, relationship topics never discussed before, and the list goes on.

This entire time I have thought I was already an adult. I have been moving a grooving to the beat of my own drum. I have been enjoying every second of life.

But most recently, real adulting showed up. I am not talking about a couple of adult errands, I am talking about real adult problems that can potentially affect not only you and your future, but all those around you as well.

I have had the luxury of being selfish my whole life. I was an only child for most of my youth so I have only thought about me since I can remember.

Adulting shows you that the world doesn’t revolve around you anymore, nor will it ever again. It presents issues you would have never thought would ever exist in your life.

You are tested on an entirely different tangent. Suddenly, a flat tire doesn’t even matter. Now, I simply think, “I got bigger fish to fry.”

The older I get the more sensitive I get to all those around me. I realize everyone is on their own journey and dealing with their own set of “adulting” problems.

Yet, somehow, a lot of people hold it together to a point that you would never even guess their house is currently flooding or their parent has been battling Alzheimer’s for years.

I respect these adults. I respect them for keeping it together. I am finally out of denial. I am an adult and more adult issues will come my way. And that’s okay, because at the end of the day when I talk to someone who has yet to fully “adult” I feel just a bit wiser because I have been there, done that, and am now focusing on bigger picture projects.

While ignorance was once bliss, wisdom is painful. It’s all worth it in the end because being wise means you have experienced growth and change and evolved as an individual throughout the process.

How are you handling adulting?

Love Deeply and Forever,

Karen