Adulting – A state of mind or A stage in life

It’s crazy how we go from just wanting to watch Tom and Jerry or High School Musical to having to watch Tedtalks and reading a 2 hours long article just because we’re trying to get it all together. Like how did the switch flip so fast?

I mean you were just…was it twelve or eleven and all you had to do was sleep, wake up to neatly ironed clothes and freshly made toast and omelets, go to school, have the best time of your life, and watch your best TV shows. Life has always been perfect.

Suddenly it seems like there’s a mistake, it’s not what it used to be, even Ed, Eddy, or whatever triplet cartoon name they’ve got, it doesn’t seem to be funny anymore. Then it’s not just that, there’s this restlessness, this feeling of constant worry you have. It’s just there, come on, it’s your daily routine, this is what you do everyday, so why are you making a fuss about it? Why do you have to worry so much about what is right, if you’re doing it right, how bad it’s going to be if you fail?

There’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety that comes with Adulting. It’s just like the icing on the cake, but in this case, it’s not good news. In fact, a large number of teenagers suffer from anxiety and depression. It’s quite overwhelming how turning into a certain age marks the beginning of a phase in your life where everyone assumes you should be responsible for yourself and your actions.

Although in most countries, the legal age for an adult is 18 and above, some opinions still hold that persons in their twenties are the ones considered adults, that is the adulthood stage begins from 20 or 21. Let’s look into what adulthood actually means generally.

Adulthood is the state or condition of being fully grown or mature and also a time in life where one is expected to take responsibility for one’s actions and well-being. Biologically, it’s the stage of reaching sexual maturity.

Earlier on, in the ’70s psychologists saw adulthood as a one-time developmental stage. Even the term “adulting” is an informal word that just evolved in the present century. Although the term is used to describe actions or attitudes that are required of adults, it appears to be more of an emotional assessment of the millennial generation. The term is used by millennials in a way that implies some amount of psychic pain.

However, modern psychologists are aware that our physical, cognitive, and emotional reactions continue to grow throughout our lives, changing our social requirements and desires along the way. So, adulting is actually a longer process than it seems to be.

Most millennials see it as gross that the younger generation have actually come to see adulting as an option. Yes, some kids or teenagers refuse to grow and accept this change due to circumstances, especially conditions like anxiety and trauma. These days you’ll find a fifteen-year-old complaining on social media about how he had to get fuel or groceries instead of playing video games or seeing a movie and he expects people to sympathize with him because of his obvious reality.

To the millennials that are quite annoying, because they never saw this as a choice, it’s something they readily embraced and had the wheel going. And their ability to do that, helped them face challenges better. Unlike the younger generation where they even have to get therapy and slow down these life processes, just because of the fear and uncertainty that comes with adulthood.

Back then, people got married at an early age and they kind of figured it out on their own. These days, the younger generation sees every stage of adulthood as a huge challenge and something that has to be processed and thought over so much before engaging in it. It’s easily understandable because times are changing and even though we are slowly embracing it, it’s not the same for everyone.

Some teenagers can do these tasks easily unlike others. It’s just the imbalance of life. Yet some elements cause this instability, which took me down on another research on what adulthood truly means. Basically, it’s a phase where you are expected to be more responsible and fully grown, which several people hold the same opinion, but for some, it’s more than that, it boils down to the mindset of the individual. At one point, some held the opinion that adulthood and maturity are two separate things.

While adulthood is just a stage or period in life, it’s more or less a term for formality, maturity holds the features attributed to being an adult. So, it’s more like there are adults who are not mature and there are mature people who the society wouldn’t regard as adults.

For instance, some people have everything done for them all their life and when it gets to a stage where they should be called adults and fend for themselves, they find it difficult because it’s a whole new game for them.
Then there are people who due to circumstances, had no choice but had to face the unpleasant phases of life earlier than they imagined, especially those who grew up without parents or are from poor backgrounds. They experience a lot more than someone who had it all.

I won’t miss the fact that there are also people who have it all but they probably grew up in an environment that demanded them to act maturely, maybe because had much older siblings and what more. At that stage of their life, you wouldn’t call them an adult because they are not physically grown enough, yet they act like one.

To sum it up, adulting varies from one individual to another, and it also depends on circumstances and environment. I would like to know your thoughts. What is adulting for you?