Life gets a lot more difficult when we have to be adults. We all wish we could continue to have no cares or responsibilities like an innocent child who doesn’t know the mess they will be in once they start doing things for themselves.

Having to be the responsible and most likely aged one in a group of teenagers is quite scary, and having to pay for things for yourself and make your own decisions is even scarier. I have to make and attend my own doctor’s appointments, make my own phone calls, run my own errands, fill my own gas tank, the list goes on and on. Sure, I still get some help from my family, and I’m usually working so I have ways to take care of myself and manage my time, but it still feels like a struggle when all is said and done because a lot of times you don’t get physical results from your progress, just recognition or nothing at all.

I still feel like I should be the one running in the yard and having all kinds of energy like before the strain of adulthood exhausted me. When I’m babysitting and the kids say they’re scared, I can’t admit to them that I’m scared too, and would much rather flee the house than investigate the fear. But instead, I have to be the brave one because I’m the “responsible adult” in charge of fighting off scary sounds, spiders, and other creepy things. Life is easier when I can forget my to-do list, eat some mac and cheese, and color or something. Sometimes I don’t even want to be in school I just want nap time all the time, and an endless supply of ice cream to feed my soul.

I may be aging in numbers but my soul is still a preteen with a lot of ambition to make everything happen. As I grow older, I find that ambition has changed, especially to be more practical. Well I have a news flash, practicality is a harsh reality that I’m not sure I want to be a part of. Making money is cool, but having to spend your own money and having to pay bills and loans and anything else that may tickle your fancy, that is not fun. This adult lifestyle is difficult. And it doesn’t always come as easily as you think it should, and money leaves at double the speed that it comes in.

As time goes on, I'm getting closer and closer to graduating college, and while it’s exciting, it’s still a scary thought because it’s always hard to know how life will treat you and what will come in the future. Being an adult is weird because you know some people who are having babies, and others who are still dancing on bars, and others who fall somewhere in between, but all came from the same place. Also, its weird because we adults have to use our brains more, which is hard to do because this society says we should think and feel a certain way.

Although adults don’t always learn more compassion, they are able to provide insight and wisdom that can be helpful in many aspects. Adults great and small, younger or older can give thoughts on nearly anything, because if you know an elderly person, you can learn so much about the world and life, and the way you want to live it.