This Is What No One Tells You About Growing Up
One day it just unexpectedly happens.
One morning you wake up and all of the sudden coffee looks extremely appealing, then soon after you actually have a go-to Starbucks order. One day your only concern is enough money to buy that cute pair of shoes you want and the next you’re full-fledged paying every bill you can think of on top of that cute pair of shoes you want. One day you’re sitting out back at your parents house, talking with a group of friends and drinking alcohol you’re too young to drink, and then that solemn moment comes when one of you says, “I can’t wait for blank to happen.” The blank changes over time. It starts off as “I can’t wait to play in my first varsity football game,” then “I can’t wait to graduate,” then “I can’t wait to get to college,” then “I can’t wait to graduate college,” and then “I can’t wait to get this big boy job” or “a family” or “to go on a vacation” or so on and so forth. One day, you begin to use the term “so on and so forth.”
One day you start to see relationships for what they are. You start to understand your parents a little more. You start to see dynamics in your own family and friend group that you were completely oblivious to before. One day you find yourself wanting to stay home and read a book versus going out for a night of drinking or even vice versa. One day you begin to see your dreams as something you can make happen, and hopefully that day comes before you look back and say they should’ve happened. One day your grandparents are there instilling the traditions their grandparents instilled in them and the next day your parents are grandparents. One day you start to view the world as a place of happiness and merriment and then replace those feelings with all sorts of views and ideas of how the world should change. One day you give what people say and think about you all of the space in your brain and the next you can only be concerned about what you think about yourself. One day you say yes to everyone, because seeing people makes you happy, and the next, you conserve your yeses for really important things.
One day you realize you’re more like your parents than you’d ever realize, and the next you’re accepting all of the things about yourself that they never did about themselves. One day you groan about having to fold and put laundry away, and the next you still groan about having to fold and put laundry away. One day you say “I’d never” and the next, you’re eating your words. One day you make a mistake and you dwell, and the next you do better. One day you see the world in black and white, and the next they are beautiful shades of gray. One day you’re solely dependent on every aspect of life, and the next you have someone solely dependent on you. One day you hate naps, and the next you’re planning your entire day around one. One day you’re running from your gift because you want a more useful one, and the next you’re learning all of the uses. One day you say your name as who you are, and the next you’re defining who you are.
One day you’re crying over that one human, and the next you’re snuggling with a human on the couch while a fireplace burns and music dances in the air around you. One day you’re crying over that rumor, and the next everyone forgets it. One day you’re paying a mortgage, and the next you’re cashing out retirement. One day you’re rolling your eyes at your parent’s or grandparent’s advice, and the next you’re cherishing the memory. One day you’re the child, and the next, you’re the grown up.