Young adulthood is probably the most difficult of all the different kinds of adulthood. For most of us, it is a transitional period between high school and a job that pays you enough to start a life for yourself. Living in a house, maybe starting a family if that's your thing, or just getting whatever it is you want out of life.
You may feel like because you are struggling now that adulthood is going to be hard. But this is the worst part. You have to build a building before you can enjoy the view from the observation deck. In the same way, the struggles you will face are inevitable, but the rewards will be grand. Here are nine signs that you are "adulting" (well, at least young "adulting") pretty well.
1. You have goals.
Congratulations! Having an idea of what to do with your life comes a lot easier to some people than others. Some people have known what they wanted to be since they were in Kindergarten. I changed my major more times than I can keep track of, so I was not one of those people. Some of my friends that I graduated high school with have already graduated college, some are graduating soon, and I am graduating in just under two years. Having goals means you eventually will enjoy the view from the metaphorical observation deck. So for now, just keep working on it. Until then, here's a kid who has some pretty awesome goals.
2. You worry about your future.
This may sound negative, but it means you care about yourself whether you realize it or not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve googled “jobs that don’t require a degree” or “jobs for college dropouts” just to tease myself. But unfortunately, life isn’t easy. Worrying about your grades means you care enough to stick through college and level up to a fully grown adult at the end of it. Worrying about your future means you will work harder because we all want to avoid the future scenario we are envisioning. If you're as worried about your future as Squidward was of his, you’re doing a great job.
3. You take time for yourself.
Working hard is important, but it is also important to not overexert yourself. If you need to take a little break, do it. We can only study for so long before we start losing our ability to keep doing so, and when that happens, all you have to do is take a short break. Watch a funny YouTube video. Listen to your favorite song. Read one of my articles. Whatever you have to do to re-engage yourself.
4. You take care of your budget.
Young adulthood is typically the time of a person's life when they start building credit. Having a credit card can be great, but it can also be a horrible mistake if you never pay it off. Keeping a close eye on your bank accounts and credit statements is always helpful, and keeping frivolous spending to a minimum is important. Bottom line: if you don’t go out every week, you should be fine.
5. Every once in a while, you feel proud of yourself.
It feels good to accomplish something. To get an "A" on an exam you weren’t feeling good about, to get special recognition, getting a pay raise for your accomplishments, etc. It might not even happen that often, but when it does, you get that feeling of pride, and you can always tell yourself that your inner adult cheering you on.
6. You’ve learned how to cook and clean for yourself.
When you first left the nest, this might’ve been a tough one. Vacuuming, doing laundry, making dinner, all of these might’ve been hard for you to grasp. But you’re an adult now, and as time has gone by, you’ve learned how to turn on a vacuum. After a few shrunken articles of clothing, and a few more bleach stained beyond saving, you’ve learned how to properly do laundry. Learning to cook was probably also incredibly difficult. After trying out a few recipes you learn what works. I’m still not a master at it myself, but we’ll get there.
7. You have enough energy to do everything in #6.
Between work, school, friends, and whatever else takes up your time, you get worn out from it all. Whenever I get back to my place after a long day, I just want to lay in bed and watch Netflix. If that happened every day, my room would start to look like Oscar’s trash can in Sesame Street because I would never make time to clean up. If I didn’t cook I would probably just go out and get fast food or order Chinese or something, which is fine every now and then but I would hate it all the time. It can be pretty easy to forget to do laundry if you have a lot of clothes. You just keep taking out outfits, filling your hamper until one day, you don’t have any clean tops. But you have the energy, and you don’t allow this to happen, do you? No, because you are successfully "adulting."
8. You don’t let what's in the past prevent you from doing well in the future.
When I first got to college, I didn’t do too well. I got a D in one of my classes, withdrew from another one, but I kept going. I almost expected to do poorly in my third semester, but I received only one C. Since then that trend has continued. I have been trying to not get any C’s in any classes, but when I do, it’s upsetting sure, but I tell myself “you can try again next semester, ONE C won’t bring you out of that range to stay in your program. Don’t even sweat it.” You know what they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try again.
9. You’re reliable/on time.
Thankfully, most of my friends are usually pretty reliable. Once in a blue moon, they slip up, and things happen because we’re all human. I do have one friend, however, who is not so reliable and not always on time. All my other friends frequently joke with him about it. If he says “I’ll be there in 15 minutes” We would say “Ok man see you in an hour” because we just know he’s going to be late. He has also bailed on us a couple of times to hang out with some other people because they were doing more fun things. But we still love him because he can be pleasant every now and then. Also, his birthday was Saturday so here’s this: Happy Birthday man. Hope it was a good one.
