Growing up And Being A Grown up

GROWING UP AND BEING A GROWN UP

Growing up, I always wished I was grown enough to be allowed to do what I wanted. I always wanted to be treated as an adult. During my teenage years, I always thought my parents didn’t understand me. Maybe they didn’t. Not because they could care less, but because I blocked them out. They would restrict me going to visit my friends, and whenever I was allowed the chance, it wouldn’t last past an hour, at most. I, basically, wasn’t allowed to go out. I never went to after school activities; which finally led to my being completely left out of any plans that my friends would make or any activity that the school was organizing. Basically, my daily routine was: HOME- SCHOOL-HOME.

I hated it.

But you see, that was a normal feeling. I was bound to hate that life at some point. No growing child or teen would want to be stuck at home all day, every day, 24/7. No. So yes, I had the right to hate it and my parents; they had the responsibility to make sure that I never swayed from the right path. They made sure I kept to that path, regardless of what I felt at that time. To this day, I am grateful that they never wavered, even during my rebellious stage.

Growing up is a pain. The fact that, you have to listen to other people make decisions for you; decisions that you may think are not in your best interest, but in truth are what is good for you. Growing up, takes a lot of effort on your part, as an individual. To be able to acknowledge yourself, your parents and the society that you find yourself in, is all part of growing up.

I used to think growing up was a bore and so I couldn’t wait to be a grown up. To make my own choices, eat what I wanted, and go where I wanted. Basically, being grown up to me, meant more fun and less stress. Boy was I wrong!

Yes, of course, you can be grown up and still have all the fun that you want. You can be a grown up and eat everything that want without any one breathing down your neck. But being a grown up comes with a lot of responsibilities and restrictions; these, mind you, will not be imposed by anyone but you. For the sake of your sanity and your health.

Being a grown up means you can stay out late. But how would you feel when you have to wake up at 5am after going to bed at 2am? How do you expect to have a productive day? How do you expect to function at a 100 when your brain isn't even working at a 50%.

Being a grown up comes with ‘decisions, decisions’. How I wish my parents would take some major decisions for me. How I wish they would lay out the ‘plan’ and all I’ll need to do is just follow. How I wish they would think for me, because they did that when I was growing up. Now that I am grown up, I have to make all these decisions by myself, all by myself, which at some point, sucks. Decisions are hard to make; good ones, that is.

Being a grown up magnifies responsibilities; getting a job, moving out of your parent’s home (what is a grown a$$ still doing in their parent’s home?), staying in during the weekend (in the event that you do go out, not drinking that last bottle or glass of beer, or just managing to stay sober), getting married, starting a family and being a good parent. All these, you need to have an inkling of, if you want to survive the grown up phase.

It doesn't have to suck or become boring as a grown up, though. You just have to pick your battles and know when to give up on old habits and cultivate new ones. You just have to make better and wiser choices. You can go out with your friends; just limit the amount of alcohol you take, or limit the number of men or ladies you take back to your place or have one night stands with.

Growing up and being a Grown-up are similar but different as well. One is a ladder to help you reach the other. Some people take longer time evolving from growing up to being a grown up. Enjoy the ‘growing up’ phase cause when you get to the ‘grown up’ phase, s**t can get real, real quick.

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