Adulthood is a lie

As kids you know one thing for certain: Your parents know everything. They have life figured out, are basically the most responsible human beings on the planet – and will likely one day bequeath the handbook of life to you, most likely somewhere around the age of 20.

Let’s face it – if we as kids had any inkling to how much our parents were winging it, struggling to make ends meet (sidebar: when I hear this phrase I hear it as “ends meat” and imagine it being some sort of bargain meat people need to feed their family when funds are tight) or just making up bullshit answers to our questions in general – our little worlds would spin off into chaos.

We grow up thinking that we’ll go to school, maybe go to university or college, then immediately get a decent job that will allow us to move out from under the umbrella of our parents, and then we will find someone to spend our lives with and pump out some children of our own. Okay while the plan may differ from person to person you get what I’m saying. At some point you go from being a kid who has no idea which end is up to suddenly having your life together.

Well imagine the surprise that every upper middle class 20-something gets smacked with when you realize that there IS no manual, and being an “adult” is just a series of haphazard decisions made that sometimes result in some harsh life lessons.

The fact of the matter is no one has a clue what they’re doing. Your parents always seem to have the answers strictly because they have 25+ years of life experience on you – they’ve lived to make mistakes – and to learn from them. My advice to kids in high school is always “give your parents some credit – they usually know what they’re talking about” I know I personally have thought “I should have just listened to my parents” on more than one occasion.

On the same note – they’re people too. They’re not superheroes. They get scared and overwhelmed just as much as you or I do. They’re just doing their best, that’s all they’ve ever done.  As someone who is now of “adulating” age and now on the other side of the childhood spectrum – I see all my friends with kids just trying to do their best on a daily basis. Some days that’s a little more and some it’s a little less. In 20 years their children won’t remember the days when it was a little less, but they will remember feeling loved and secure.

As per usual my post has spun off into a completely new direction but I’m going to try to get back to the point. My point.

My point is – as a twenty-something, HECK, THIRTY-SOMETHING you do NOT have to have it all figured out. At some point you need to let go of that insane idea you had as a child that because your parents may or may not have “had their act together” (I can almost promise you they didn’t) that you have to. It will NEVER be too late to change your path in life because things aren’t what you want. Maybe we would all have a little less grey hair if we didn’t put a deadline on life.  (jk – I like my silver strands – and who doesn’t love a silver fox)

For clarification: I’m not talking to the people who have no ambition to get out in the world and get a job. To those people – pretty sure McDonalds is always hiring. Get off your ass and do something. You need a deadline – and probably some grey hairs.