How does this adult thing work?


(Pretty picture of a bike I saw on the streets of Milan. It has nothing to do with this post.)


A few weeks ago, I was talking with some friends from church and telling them I got into graduate school. I paused and commented on how old that made me feel because whenever I was a kid hearing someone went to graduate school, I thought they were old. I looked at my friend (who is also one of my former youth leaders) and said, "I guess I'm an adult." He turned to me and said, "You've been an adult for a while."

It kind of made me laugh, because most of the time I really don't feel like an adult (or aaah-dult, as most adults say.) When will I start to feel more grown up? When I do my own taxes, get married, live on my own? At times when I feel like a kid it makes me sad because I know I am definitely not a kid anymore.

Other times, I feel blessed that I still have this childish sense of wonderment and awe. I don't think a person needs to always feel like one or the other: adult or child. I can tell you, I feel like both most of the time, and I am okay with that.

4 comments:

kireinacards said...

You may never feel like an adult. I do my own taxes, work full time and the whole "adult" thing, and I still don't feel like an adult. Take the feeling as a blessing--it allows you to be more adventurous. You know what they say, "You're only as old as you feel."

chelse said...

I never feel like an adult either. I teach school high school and sometimes I feel like I would fit in more with the students than the faculty. It's a good thing. It's better to be old but not notice or care

Alanah said...

Thanks friends! I have realized it is much better to feel like a kid sometimes, rather than to always feel old. How awful would that be?

Anonymous said...

Not sure if I ever solidly feel one way or the other. Sometimes I think I'm 'young' in how I act, but then other times I think about how young other people are, and how much they have to learn. It goes back and forth all the time. There's no real marking point for adulthood (save for the age of 18) in how we feel.

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