As a kid, I wanted to be an adult so bad. I saw adults able to buy whatever they wanted and do whatever they liked, and I wanted to get to that point. I wanted to have that level of freedom. I couldn't wait to clock 18 years and finally " get to do whatever I wanted".
Now I'm getting to that point, I'm realising that it's not that easy. There are a lot of challenges that come with adulthood.
In this write-up, I seek to delve into some of the complexities of adulthood.
First of all, adulthood comes with a lot of responsibilities. It is at this point in your life that you start to depend on yourself more than others and sometimes have people depend on you too. Here, you transition from relying on others to standing on your own feet, and this can be daunting sometimes. You now have to think about where your next meal is going to come from, making the right decision and facing the consequences of your wrong decisions.
Moreover, adulthood comes with managing relationships. You now have to establish new bonds and protect some of these. Unlike childhood where you don't care about gaining or losing friends, but are only concerned about having fun, you have to master the art of communication. You are now expected to manage relationships be it a friendship or a romantic relationship or fostering family ties.
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Again, once you become an adult, you now open your doors to self-discovery. You have to, contrary to being a child, find out who you are. What you want to do and how you want your life to turn out. You now have to identify your strengths and weaknesses and figure out your goals and aspirations.
Furthermore, with adulthood comes uncertainties. You now have to navigate ambiguity and adapt to unforeseen circumstances. You have to make decisions you're not sure of in the various aspects of life.
You also have to aside all these, take care of yourself; prioritize your well-being. When you were a child, you hardly took care of yourself and didn't try to protect yourself from any sickness; that was the headache of your parents or guardians. But now, you have to be extra careful of your health; try and balance your work life and personal life.
Adulthood has its own benefits and there are no two ways about it but sometimes it gets really hard and once you fall, getting up becomes a bit difficult.