Every child today shares this dream of growing into an Adult, falling in love, graduating from high school, owning/working in a multinational company and eventually getting to raise kids and perhaps travelling around the world to destinations only seen in the movies.
And with the hopes of living out these fantasies, the child eagerly awaits the dawn of Adulthood as he/she keeps watch over the development of their vital organs and all the traits that mark one out as an Adult.
Hmm! Adulthood is the scariest part of our human existence because it sucks! You probably didn’t hear that from me for the first time, but I have to admit as a millennial that whenever ‘Adulthood’ is mentioned in a conversation, it hits differently, it feels like receiving a punch from AJ Or being served 'breakfast' by the love of your life.
An Average Millennial is caught in the unending debate of morality and the ethical questions of what was done differently in the previous generations.
The avalanche of technology has created a divide between the older generations and the Millennials get things done in no time and they come up to say “Millennials all just want results, without putting in work” which really isn't true, and explains the apprehension and resentment towards the older generations.
As kids we had very lucid dreams of how beautiful life is going to be when we are grown up, we went as far as creating our own canvas in our heads of the kind of cars we would ride and the mansions we would live in.
Only to wake up with just smartphones and the internet in our heads, as compensation for the lifestyle we had imagined growing up. We feel so bad and begin to ask questions like why am I here in the first place? What is the meaning of life after all? And the lots of unending questions that are characterized by our current reality.
The sum of our assessment of life is that Life is a scam, and School is Scam! Like how do you explain all the years you spent in school learning what is supposedly the wrong thing, only to start all over with teaching yourself how to survive.
NEWS FLASH!
ADULTHOOD NAH SCAM!
In Nigerian perlance.
Its nothing else but expectations and billings
What is Adulthood and Who is an Adult?
To begin with, Adulthood is a different thing for many people, but I can tell from my point of view that it is learning how to prevent a child from inventing new ways of killing him/herself, at least before they are grown-ups.
But for the dictionary, it's a different affair. Adulthood according to the dictionary is an informal term used to describe a behaviour that is seen as responsible and grown-up. And this behaviour often involves meeting up with the mundane demands of independent and professional living such as paying bills and running errands.
Now the second question of who is an adult? I guess it is already taken care of, or we can just say, an adult is someone who has come of a legally prescribed age when they are responsible for their actions. And in most countries, Adulthood begins between the ages of 18 and 25. But in most African cultures, one becomes an adult, once he has attained marriageable age, or is married and answerable to certain responsibilities.
According to a Reddit User, Adulthood is taking responsibility for your actions and realizing that what you don't affect only you anymore, but has consequences on other people’s dreams and aspirations as well, meaning you are now responsible for others.
This is what sets us apart from our younger selves when we were kids, and unable to take responsibility for anything, we even get offended when we are made to be responsible for a fault of ours or to be accommodating to another person’s view. We just want to experiment and go on living carefree, but at the same time, our innermost cravings are to grow up and possibly purchase our dream cars or afford such fancy lives like in the movies, but the responsibility is not for us...that was as kids, not anymore!
We experience Adulthood at least once before eventually graduating to become one, remember when you first get admitted to a boarding facility and you had to study away from your parents and your teachers and seniors made you take responsibilities by assigning roles and punishments to you, and then you finally escaped to College/University, with a little amount of spare cash after expenses and you feel Oh! I can now afford to buy some fancy shirts or jeans and all that, with a bit of freedom at my disposal, you're being to enjoy life, and wise it continues, well, college is for a limited amount of time, and painfully, you were yet to become an adult, because you don’t yet pay any bills, or run errands after grads school, you are treated to a warm reception at home by your parents and you want to take some time off and begin to enjoy life, then after a call of days/weeks you are subject at a family meeting, where you are told
Hey, John or Mary!
Sorry, we’ve supported you all these years, but it's high time, you get on your feet and figure out how to get a job. Damn, joy killers, lol.
The reality of Adulthood just hits you, and it's already feeling unfair, like we say in Nigeria ``it's inside life” if you don't move then the responsibility will move you, and then off you go, so says the songwriter life begins after school!
Five reality about Adulthood
Congratulations, you just bought your freedom, and can as well afford to buy your dream house at Banana Island or build your Mansion Besides the presidential Villa, buy a private jet, or perhaps take some time off this earth to chill somewhere in space like Jeff Bezos.
Remember, that all along you have always wanted to be free, now you have your freedom, it is what you do with it that shapes how the rest of your entire adulthood would look like because Adulthood gives you what your other self could not afford:
- Adulthood gives you the opportunity and the will to spice your life, to define your style, you can do anything at your own expense.
- It does take away your freedom or your choices, it just helps to remind you of the pros and cons of the choices that you make.
- It is your ability to define your style that sets you apart from your younger self that was dependent on the support of others or their approval for everything. But as an adult, you get a fair chance to support other people’s dreams while living your dreams, remember, your dream has come true!
- You become a thought leader and a shaper of destiny, teaching your kids and their peers how best to live and your impact is felt positively or negatively.
- Because you are an adult you can now talk and be listened to at family meetings and other gatherings.
However, there is just one regret about adult life, and that is financial management, an aspect of learning that no one would ever teach us. We learn and school ourselves from the school of life, making and correcting our mistakes. One’s ability to make a wise and prudent financial decision is what makes this new life become fun, or suck at us. As you must have heard, the outcome of a man’s life is a result of his choices.
