Adulting...

It has been two months since I turned eighteen and I can honestly say that I don't feel like an adult. Eighteen is the age where you are classified as an adult in most countries, you have your eighteenth birthday, blow out some candles on a cake (well, I didn't on my birthday but you know what I mean) and then you are an adult. Personally, I disagree with that. Most eighteen year olds I know, including myself, probably wouldn't class themselves as adults.

The way I define an adult is an individual who has more responsibilities, independence to make their own decisions and has the emotional maturity to cope with different situations they may find themselves in. That isn't immediately going to happen in one day, it is a gradual process. Being eighteen can help with some of those things, like you don't need to ask for parental responsibility (In the UK anyway) and in that respect, you are responsible for the decisions you make which can help in becoming an adult.

The reason why I decided to address this topic was because Lish did a blog post on "Adulting" a while ago. And she addressed the fact that work can take over peoples lives, as well as a whole load of other stuff that distracts you from your hobbies and social time that you used to have time for in your younger years. That upsets me to be honest, as I imagine the day when I may live until I am a sixty year old woman surrounded by cats, sitting in an armchair and reminiscing about my younger years. I don't want to remember my adult years as just working, I want to remember good times, fun times, those days where you simply don't have a care in the world about anything.

In this respect, I am glad I haven't gone to university this year. I have discovered the curse of adulting myself and am doing my best to prevent it for the time being. When I first went full time, it was tiring work. Going from working two days a week to four or five days a week was a bit of a struggle and took me a bit of getting used to. Whenever I got home after every shift all I would want to do is sleep. On my days off, I had no effort to do anything or make plans, I just wanted to rest and felt like I was only living to work. I managed to finally get out of that state by planning a big clear out of my room, which I have completed now. I got rid of a lot of stuff I just didn't need any more and it made me feel better inside. I found more cuttings, old tickets and things that brings back memories for my scrapbook, another hobby I'm going to get back into. And today I have done a big clear out of my bookshelf which made me feel a lot better, I managed to clear out almost two shelves worth of books. That has now started a cleaning and organisation obsession for now, I am planning to help my brother clear out his books so if you need anything tidying or organising you know where I am! I have started going out more in evenings, something I never really used to do, read more books and shop a lot more as I am earning money, at least once a week. You just have to try and make time for your hobbies and social time on your days off and in the evenings while adulting. Like I said, it is a gradual process.

While I don't think adulting is necessarily a bad thing, it shouldn't be taken so seriously. Everyone goes through life changes and even when I am a sixty year old woman sitting in my armchair, I'll still be a child at heart!

So yeah, it's all good...

Amy :)