Help - when did I become an adult?

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.  ~Chili Davis

   

I never feel that I am an adult, though supposedly I am.  When did this happen? I guess it’s because I associate being an “adult” as having a mortgage, a spouse or kids, things I also associate it with older people like my parents and honestly people who have those responsibilities.  I also associate being an adult as uh old. However, that being said I don’t feel old either... It recently occurred to me that neither does anyone else. That’s right other supposed adults including my friends and dare I say parents don’t feel like adults either. I used to think ya right when older people would say I don’t feel older than 25 even though there were 20, 30 and 40 plus years older well folks I am now that person.

Apparently all we really want when we are kids is to be an adult. Not because we want the responsibilities of going to work every day, raising children, paying mortgages, car payments, bills and everything else that comes with it.  We crave adulthood so we can drink alcohol, make our decisions about bedtime, spend our money the way we want too, hang out with who we want too when we want to and decide for ourselves what constitutes a meal. The biggest thing we crave about adulthood as kids is independence. Is it all that it’s cracked up to be?

Adulthood definitely has some pitfalls. I no longer get asked for identification at bars or restaurants.  I remember thinking it was so great the first few times I didn’t get ID'ed.  But the first time someone called me Mam at the grocery store I was shocked to discover they were actually talking to me.  I think I aged on the spot.  Really it was rather a harsh reality check.  I have actually asked people to not call me Mam because I feel like I should be wearing a pink polyester pant suit and Chantilly Lace perfume. As I said I don’t feel adult or even old enough to be called Mam. 

But being an adult is also pretty awesome. You can get a tattoo (despite parental disapproval),  eat a whole bag of Doritos and top it off with a jar of Betty Crocker’s readymade chocolate icing for desert and this is a meal (ok not really – don’t judge I know you have all consumed a similar meal!) but you get my meaning. Although I think I had a pretty great childhood my adult years to date have rocked and I hope they continue to.  Some days I have to remind myself that being an adult isn’t all that bad as long as I follow simple rules I learned as a kid you know be nice to others, share, don’t stick your finger or tongue in the light socket, look both ways before crossing the street and don’t run with scissors. I know there are more but you get the general idea.

I have decided to embrace being an adult because as an adult I have so far had a pretty great life. I have traveled to 5 continents, worked in and travel to some of the most amazing places on the planet, seen over a 1000 animal species including really rare and endangered ones, met some fascinating people whom I can count among my friends, eaten good (nutritious) and bad (junk) food, learned to consume quality alcohol in the appropriate amounts (ok not always but generally, you gotta live once in a while), tried new and interesting things (see Special Massage post) and have still managed to avoid a lot of adult responsibilities, I shouldn’t say avoid because these are choices not forced obligations and I have made them freely. That being said I know that I have also missed out on great things too such as having children, owning my own home and living in the same place for longer than 3 years.

However, I wouldn’t trade my life so far for anything. I have no regrets. I think this is one of the most important things about being an adult, no regrets. We at least have the chance and ability to make changes to our lives if we want to because we are in charge of it, 100%. We are the driver of our own train; we choose what stations we pass through and which ones we stop at, who boards and disembarks. Being an adult is awesome especially if you embrace it whole heartedly, make and account for your own decisions.  

So when I feel negative about being an adult I remember that do not have to act like or be an adult all the time and neither do my friends. This makes me smile and giggle like I did when I was 5 because life (at least mine is) is as great now as it was then because I make it that way.