As children, we were always telling each other "Wow! I can't wait to be a grown up!" We thought that it was the coolest thing. To be able to stay up late, eat junk food whenever we wanted, and play all the time (at least this is what I imagined). No one knew what the world would bring us, we didn't understand what responsibilities were, we just wanted to not go to school anymore and to not have to be told what to do anymore. Boy, were we in for a surprise.
The time of thinking adulthood was fun and exciting is gone. We now realize that all it is: is stressful situations, a side of anxiety, with a light sprinkling of "I have no clue what I'm doing." This is at least true for the young adults, the ones who are going to college to try to make their lives better. The ones who are working two jobs, maybe three, in order to earn enough to pay for schooling and their car. The people that are trying to balance their academics and extracurriculars with their social life, relationships, and making sure their families don't disown them for not communicating enough. Adulthood isn't easy, or at least for the time being it's not, but oddly enough, life works in cycles. Here's how.
As a kid, you dream of being older, having a job, maybe a wife/husband, kids of your own, and maybe a nice car. You absolutely hate sitting in class for 8 hours a day, learning factorials, about WWII, or reading Shakespeare. You didn't understand that school, regardless of what you were learning, was preparing you for later in life. All you understood was that you wanted to be at that later point in your life, and that school was the only thing in your way of getting there. Well you know what little Tommy, just enjoy the fact that you don't have to do anything for the time being. Yes, school isn't fun, but it is very important for you to develop relationships with others, to be able to learn about what it is that you want to do with your life in the future. It seems like a big waste of time now, but I can promise that it will all be worth it in the end.
Fast forward to college aged Tommy. You are still in school (assuming that Tommy went to school, let's say he did), trying to learn more in the specialty that you want to have a career in. You are struggling to make it through your classes, because you just want to be done. You are thinking about how "Life was SO much simpler back when you were a kid" or that "Life would be better if i could just be in my job already." This is where I believe most people question their lives and futures, because it's when everything literally hits you like a truck. You start to realize that maybe you took for granted all of the fun you had as a kid, blowing bubbles in your chocolate milk, and spitting spit balls at the "cute" girls in your classes. But you also start to day dream about what it will be like once you finally graduate with whatever degree you're going for, and how nice it'll be to finally have your dream job. It becomes impossible to differentiate between your longing for the past, or your hope for the future. Really jealous of child Tommy now right?
Fast forward again to old man Tommy. He is now, essentially back at the beginning. He doesn't have to worry about anything (except for missing his Tuesday night program on the television). The life of the man is accomplished. He graduated college, got his dream job, married his wife, had his 3 children, retired, and became a grandfather. To some he would be "an accomplished man," but is he? Let's see. He has seen people come and go. Some have had fun growing up and doing the extravagant things that they always dreamt of doing. He didn't, because Tommy was only worrying about growing up and being in his dream job. He rushed himself to be what he thought he needed to be - an adult. Now he'll look back and think "Wow. I would love to be that kid again, not worrying about being an adult, or only having to worry about the Chemistry final on Friday." He doesn't have to worry about anything, he just sits at home with the wife and the grandchildren, why would he be unhappy? Because to him, he didn't grow up, he just became an adult.
That's the thing, we live our lives being told to act like an adult most of the time, and that the childishness needs to be left behind. For what? So we can focus on doing our taxes, getting a college degree, and then being a career driven man/woman? No. Don't become an adult, just grow up. Because to grow means that you slowly learn and evolve over time. Go out and have fun, and if you get in trouble, you learn from it. Do daring and risky things, because if you get hurt, I bet you won't do that again. Don't spend every waking moment thinking about how you want to be that little kid again, or how you want to be the older guy who has had a successful career. It's all a waste of time. Be the person that lives in the moment, so that when you're old man Tommy, you can look back and think to yourself, "That was one hell of a ride."
