When we are young we dream of being grownups and all of the fun and exciting events that will take place in our lives. Adulthood is very exciting and there are many wonderful times that happen as an adult but it seems that as young children we block out all of the difficult times we will encounter as adults. As a child, you view adulthood as, getting married, having babies, going to bed when you want to go to bed and basically just having unlimited freedom with no one telling you what to do. Honestly, some of these are true but for the most part a child's view on adulthood is warped.
Because I recently graduated from college (7 months ago), and have been living on my own, starting a new job and living (finally) in the same city as my wonderful boyfriend, I have had to adjust and find my own routine. Since graduating, life has been wonderful but it has also been very eye opening to the worries of adulthood which got me thinking about this blog topic. Once you graduate from college and leave the "nest" you have officially left Neverland; you are no longer a child. Finally, the time has come that you have dreamed about since a child, you are on your own and taking life by the horns! Because I am just beginning my adult journey, I wanted to compile a list of 5 things or ideas that children often forget when they think of adulthood and leaving Neverland.
Number 1: Paying Bills
I think any adult will agree with me that paying bills SUCKS!! You make money at your job that you spend the majority of your life and week at, all for that money to pay for cable, internet, water, power, your car and rent. As a child you imagine all of the wonderful things you will have and believe me you will have nice things if you are good with your money but you never imagined in your grand vision of adulthood that you would have to pay bills.
Number 2: Budgeting
Budgeting goes along with number 1 because in order for you to be able to pay your bills, buy groceries and have some spending money for fun all depends on how you budget each month. While it is important to budget it is also important to save your money and create an 'emergency fund' just in case something were to happen regarding your job, health etc.
Number 3: Keeping Up a House
Moving to Atlanta, my parents purchased me a condo in Buckhead. I absolutely love where I live because of its awesome location but even before I moved in I never expected how much work it would be to keep the place up. Vacuuming, dusting, laundry and cleaning the bathroom doesn't bother me because I cleaned my own room and bathroom when I lived with my parents and did my own laundry all throughout college. Those chores in my mind are essential but what sucks is mopping the kitchen floor, cleaning the entire house, making sure the kitchen is clean and unloading the dishwasher. If chores were not enough, when anything breaks it is my responsibility to call a technician to come check out the problem and then pay an arm and a leg for them to fix it. My first week of living in my condo I went to take a shower only to find out I had not hot water and needed a new hot water heater. I immediately called and had a technician install a new hot water heater the next day and that was one expense I had not budgeted for.
Number 4: Eating Healthy
Now that you are on your own, your mother is no longer making your meals and forcing you to eat the brussel sprouts you hate. As an adult it is often difficult to eat healthy and to make healthy meals because you are finally able to avoid all the foods you are not really crazy about and eat the foods that you enjoy. However, I try and buy vegetables when I go to the grocery store and accompany them with humas or something that will make me eat my veggies. Planning meals is also very difficult. Cooking for one or two people can often make us want to go out to eat or do something quick with little effort. Recently, I have been on Pintrest looking for healthy and nutritious meals that I can easily make for one or two people. Taking care of yourself as an adult is very important.
Number 5: Making Yourself Do the things you HATE
So....I despise the dentist, like I actually hate and have great anxiety and fear about going and that really goes for the doctor as well. I have found a hair dresser but still need to find a dentist and a doctor and neither are difficult to find, the problem is I keep putting it off and not wanting to think about it because they freak me out. But, I know that a responsible adult goes to the doctor and the dentist, so I will eventually make myself go just not immediately. This statement not only applies to the dentist and the doctor but to every other situation or event in our adult life that we do not want to go to but know we need to for whatever reason.
Thinking back over these five things, makes me realize that these are small and trivial things that happen in your adult life and are quite normal. I have adjusted just fine to my 6 months on my own and I feel as if I can handle anything that life throws at me. Sometimes, I wish I could see adulthood through the eyes of a child and focus on only the good. At the end of this post, I thought I would be saying that I wish I could go back to Neverland; and while it had some great aspects, adulthood is greater. Yes, you will encounter annoying and normal life issues and even greater ones along the way but as an adult, you experience some of the greatest events in your life and you become the person you were meant to be. Neverland was great and nurturing but its time to fully immerse myself in adulthood and enjoy every minute of it.
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