Growing up, there were so many things I couldn’t wait to do when I became of legal age. Other people made it seem all so glorious; enjoying all the perks and privileges that came with it. Whether partying all night with no restrictions or just having their own money;they made their own decisions without anyone breathing down their necks. It was every teenager’s dream. Fast forward to the actual adulting and boy! was I hit by a rude shock. The experience is not as marvelous as I thought. If anything, I get caught up in random moments throughout the day wondering why I was rushing to grow up.
Adulting is dynamic and it comes with a lot of responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad. We definitely enjoy different perks here and there such as freedom and independence but it all comes at a cost. I know we all have different experiences but there are some cross cutting issues that we all have encountered at one point in our adulthood journey. Here are just but a few.
Incessant Bills
Moving out of home and living alone has always seemed like such an achievement for any young adult. One stands to gain independence, privacy, freedom and much more, or so it seems. However, nobody comes out to speak about the never-ending bills that come with it. Before, when we were younger, we would not have to worry about any of that as our parents had it all covered. Food, shelter, clothing, you name it. Nowadays, all the bill receipts come in our names. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse but the general cost of living in the country has also risen significantly making every bill a stinging experience.
Suddenly, stripped of all the childhood privileges and support, young adults must grapple with the transition to total independence. All this has ultimately led to the scramble for jobs in a bid to gain a stable source of income to pay up all those bills. For many, the job hunt has not been as smooth. Instead, it has become a disheartening struggle of resumes and rejection. As if the struggle of securing a job wasn’t enough, young adults also must deal with the weighty responsibilities of budgeting and saving. This may seem like such a basic skill but so many young people are in dire lack of it. As a result, they find themselves ill-equipped to handle complex responsibilities such as meeting statutory requirements like filing taxes, submitting insurance claims and more.
Mental Health
As children, we seldom worried about anything .We lived in the present and didn’t dwell much on anything. Nowadays, everything hits us hard. Whether it’s about work, relationships, career or even finances. Sadly, social media has made it much worse with its constant bombardment of unrealistic living standards. The rates of depression and suicidal behaviors have been on the rise in the recent past, making mental health an emerging issue in the society. However, this is sadly a topic that most people still don’t understand due to our social reservations. Instead, it is seen as such a minor issue that perhaps only needs prayer, a good exercise, or a wild night out to weed it out. Therapy and counselling are shunned upon and seen as a waste of money and effort. Those who take on therapy appear weak and imperfect.
The stigma associated with mental health is unfortunate, but the good news is that it is slowly lifting. Today’s generation is most affected, and they are proving to be a vocal bunch. They won’t be silenced. Mental health is finally starting to get the attention it deserves.
Relationships
Socialization is such an important aspect of human existence. We are social beings and are designed to relate with each other. The relationships we have in our lives contribute greatly to our happiness and peace of mind. As adults we realize it’s much harder to make new friends like we did as children. Back then, we were just interested in people who could play with us however as we grow older friendships become more meaningful and complex. The relationships grow deeper; intensifying beyond the crushes that shaped our teens and early adolescence. In addition, over time, we tend to shed off a huge part of our circle for various reasons. We have fewer and fewer friends as we grow older; we value quality over quantity. We are in a constant journey of trying to establish an independent sense of self and that often gets lonely.
Growing older, we tend to form deeper connections with friends and some of these turn into romantic relationships which are a whole rollercoaster on their own. Romantic pitfalls have become a high source of stress in many young adults’ lives. We experience loss, grief and heart break more intensely in our adulthood and navigating these emotions in a healthy way has proven to be a necessary skill which sadly very few have. As a result, many find themselves broken, dealing with past traumas that continue to weigh them down.
Physical Health
Our bodies change significantly as we grow older, and we slowly realize that we are no longer as agile and lack the stamina we had when we were children. We start to hear our bones crack more often when we do strenuous activities. We get tired more often and sleep early. The hangovers we get nowadays from a nigh out, feel like a death sentence. With the change in climate and rise of lifestyle risk factors, there are newer diseases by the day. Our news feed is ever bombarded by reports of new disease strains-stronger than the previous ones that are taking an immense and increasing toll on people’s lives.
In a bid to increase our life expectancy, we are taking more health checks and are more conscious of our lifestyle choices. This is heightened when we have children of our own as we want to live to see them grow and have their own children as well. We can’t afford to make the risky YOLO (You only live once ) decisions like we used to do when we were younger as we have dependents who we need to take care of and enjoy till our old age.
Uncertainty
As kids, we lived without worry. We didn’t have to think about changing government policies, world wars, toxic relationships or even stagnating careers. We lived in the present. However, as adults we sadly don’t have the same luxury. Every waking day reminds you of all the things that didn’t work out and the likelihood that the future will hold the same fate. Social media has made this much worse. It tends to glorify other peoples’ experiences, only highlighting their success and hiding their failures. This creates a false narrative that all our friends are excelling as we continue to struggle. All this leads to unhealthy comparisons among young adults and can result in feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness.
