Get a job......buy a car.....rent an apartment.....buy a house.....get married....have children....save money....Adulthood.
From the eyes of 7 year old me, adulthood looked that simple. There is a check-list, sort of, and these things just kind of .... happen, why because you are an adult, of course! In practice, not so much. There doesn't seem to be an on-switch for "Adulthood" and on top of that, and perhaps more importantly, it encompasses so much more than I thought possible.
Now, I do not claim to be an all-knowing savant, or to even possess some kind of philosophical aptitude [just an appreciation, really], so I'd be willing to bet that this post has not blown your mind. At least not because you've never thought about it before. Excellent, because I want your help: what has surprised you the most about growing up? And, what do we do with it all? Where do we go from here?
One of the most surprising things about growing up is friendships. As a kid, I feel like friendships were so fluid! Yes, it was crumby when you had a fight with a friend, and maybe it ruined the rest of recess. Sometimes longer, but [with the exception of a few] I don't remember being totally crushed by the dissolution of a friendship as a child. Do you? It presented a problem, and it wasn't fun by any means, but it didn't devastate. As an adult, I am not proud to say that I have lost more than one friendship. The pain is astronomical! It is the end of a relationship, and one that clearly was important, and it leaves a serious void.
On the other hand, friendships in childhood rarely impacted my life as positively as mine as an adult. What a curious thing it is! So often when I think about my day and count my blessings[, instead of sheep], I am overwhelmingly aware of how truly wonderful my friends are, and how much I love them. I must say, it is a joyous "surprise," to take stock of how much love and gratitude you have. I am fairly certain that while I was always one to voice my love for friends to them as a child, it never personally affected me this way; my gratitude matured as I did. I find that somehow depletes the void of loss, replacing it with a much more dense fulfillment.
So, dear friends, what say you?
I'm an engrosser. I am engrossed in Christ's Church, theatre, art, history, and the family of mine that grows with each hand I shake and hug I share. God blessed me with strong arms, a healthy heart, and eyes for absorption in all things fascinating (which, by the way, is an unending list).
I can't believe I never read this! I'm sorry! :(
ReplyDeleteThe thing that surprised me most about growing up was that sometimes people just won't agree with you and that's okay. In learning more about how to teach children, I'm seeing how adults try to guide kids in one direction or another to teach them how best to make decisions. Once you decide it's time to make them on your own, you have to be willing to accept that there will still be people who want to guide you to another decision. That was a tough lesson for me!