This past week, I came across an old receipt that I’d kept hidden away between the pages of my planner. It came from an old grocery trip to Walmart that I made my freshman year of college and the total reads $192.70.
The reason that I kept this particular receipt is to remind myself of the specific moment in my life when I realized that I was all on my own in what people like to call the “real world.” I was finally entering the stage of my life that a school education could not fully prepare me for— adulthood.
I remember watching the price on the screen slowly rising, as the cashier swiped random products from left to right, and I could feel myself becoming more and more nauseous with each recurring *ka-ching* of the register, as it priced my items. I quickly realized that I had never been taught how to budget my money. I had no clue how to keep myself financially sustained for a long period of time. The more that I thought about how my public school textbook-education did little to prepare me for the trials of adulthood, the more hopelessly lost I began to feel. I felt like I knew nothing and it was in this instance that I began to grasp the ambiguous concept of adulthood.
The purpose of me sharing this story is to point out that it is in these moments of inadequacy that we are taught what it truly means to be adults. Today, I am still hopelessly lost.
The only difference is that, now, I am more accepting of that fact. Through the various failures that I have accumulated over the past year of being an honorary member of the “real world,” I have mastered the art of not knowing what to do. What makes me feel better is knowing that I do not stand alone in my obliviousness.
The real reason that nobody ever prepares us for the trials of life through a textbook that reads, "Adulthood for Dummies," is that nobody truly knows what the hell they are doing. Life lessons cannot be taught in a classroom setting, but only through hands-on experience. Even the most profound life lessons can sometimes leave a person with more questions than answers.
The American writer, Will Durant, seriously knew what he was talking about when he once stated, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” If my progressive accumulation of knowledge has taught me anything, it is that I feel like I know less now than ever before. This is the grand irony of adulthood. It seems like we are all just fools looking for a purpose.
So, remember to laugh a little more at your own inevitable mistakes and feel better knowing that you are not alone in your failed endeavors. We are all just as hopelessly lost as the person next to us, so keep in mind that acknowledging your own ignorance is bringing you one step closer to truly realizing that you are an adult.
