Aspects of Being an Authentic Adult

This article is for those who are confused and stressed about adulting. Our teen days are over, but we do not know what to do with ourselves in the near future. Schools never taught us how to be adult, did they? How are we supposed to handle all the responsibilities that adulthood throws at us when we cannot even make a call without stressing?

People around us look like they have got it all figured out and seeing them do great things with their lives does not help. Remember when we were younger, and we used to think that being twenty-something would be the coolest thing ever? Oh, well.

 

Well, we cannot just sit in front of our computers and watch cat videos for the rest of our lives, right? These are supposed to be the most fun years of our lives. Stressing won’t help. A positive attitude towards trying new things in life certainly will. So, here is a list of 10 things one should do before they turn thirty.

  • Learn how to love yourself.

I know how cheesy this sounds. But then, think about it. The only constant in your life is you. You cannot run from your self. It is extremely hard to love oneself with our minds constantly reminding us of our flaws. We only accept parts of us that the people around us appreciate. The only solution to this is to accept your flaws and work on them. There will be times and there will be people who will make you realize you are not worth it, but learn to your deaf ears to those degrading words. Read books, work out, tell yourself that you are amazing and that you deserve to be loved. Believe in yourself and be confident. I know you have hard this enough, but trust me you have to love yourself for doing anything perfectly, if you constantly  you are not worth it, you are inadequate, you will not be able to grow.

 

  • Live on your own.
    This may sound scary to those who have lived with their parents their entire life. Once you do it, though, the fear will go away. Living on your own will teach you new things, and you will learn how to handle responsibilities. If you don’t like it, you can always go back home. What matters is the experience. Living on you own, cooking foods, survive with the minimum amount of money that you can, may sound scary but trust me once you do it, you will feel that you are an adult now and you do not need your parents’s hand to cross the road, you do not need any one else to tell you walk confidently.

 

  • Face your fears.
    Face your fears
    By Camila R P/ Shutterstock

    Another scary thing to do, this one. We all know how the only solution to get rid of your fear is to face it. Do not let your fear control you or stop you from doing anything in your life. In today’s world, anxiety is the most ordinary thing, you will get to hear, anxiety of speech, anxiety of stage, anxiety of talking to more than two people at a time, anxiety of speaking on the phone and many more. These are the most common thing that some of us had and still do, the only cure is to DO IT. Once you get adult, you will get to hear this thing often that you are an adult now, learn to do things on your own. So, nobody is going to help you with your anxiety. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP YOU.

 

  • Get a job you love.
By Nokuro/ Shutterstock

Find out what you are passionate about, something that you never get tired of. Make a living out of it. If you are already doing something that is making you feel stuck, know that it’s not too late to leave it behind. It is never to late! Once we become adults, we just try to find a job and do not take help from our parents. But always remember, if you do something that you do not like, you will sooner or later get bored and frustrated of it. You will eventually leave it. Always do something that you like, no matter what the society or you personal society, family says.

  • Go on a trip.

 Adulthood is stressful. You need to get away at times. Save up money to travel to new places alone or with your friends. Do you remember yourself breathing heavily and saying “I NEED A BREAK.” Yes, we all need breaks sometime or the other, when we get adult we go on small trips with our friends, just to keep our mind fresh, which helps you in your life and work.

 

  • Learn how to cook.
By Daxiao Productions/ Shutterstock

Regardless of your gender, you should know how to cook. Wherever you are, you’ll need food to survive. Why depend on others when you can cook whatever you want, anytime? Most of us have left our hometown, for either studies or job, we do not have our mothers to cook for us, or our grandmother to ask us “What would you like to eat today?” So, irrespective of our genders, we all should learn how to cook, not an extremely good cook, but at least know the basic to survive your stomach on your own.

  • Do what you have always wanted to do.

 We all had things we wanted to do when we were little but could not because of some reason or the other. Remember feeling jealous of adults who could do whatever they wanted to do? Take time out of your busy schedule to do just that. Now that, we have grown up, we have ample opportunities that will help us to fulfill our small dreams, like learn how to paint, how to play piano, or learning a new language. We all are grown ups now, we can sum up little bit of money and learn these small dreams of ours that we always wanted to fulfill.

 

  • Adopt a pet.
By otsphoto/ Shutterstock

Adopting a baby cat or dog, can give you an amazing feeling of parenthood. Taking care of them, when they are little, they can only drink milk and, making them fall asleep, everyday, will make also make you more careful and responsible in your everyday life. Animals cannot talk to you, but they are excellent listeners. Your pet will give you a reason to smile even on days you feel terrible. Coming home to your pet at the end of the day is the best feeling ever. Your pet understands your emotion, if your mental health is not fine, they will always try to grab attention and try to make you distract from those thoughts. All that a pet needs, is just immense amount of love and care.

 

  • Do things for your parents.

They have spent their whole lives taking care of you and now that you have grown up, do not just abandon them. Do little things for them that would make them happy and in turn, will make your day. In today’s generation we are all materialistic, we do not really give preference to other’s emotions. We all get busy with our studies and careers, we do not get the opportunity to stand and retrospect the little things that used to make us smile. We all should talk daily to our parents, if not one on one, we can just call them, and ask them, “How was your day?” We have grown up, they have grown old as well. All that they need is just a bit of an attention and realization that they do matter. We can talk to them, buy them small things, like their favourite food, or the things that they used to like in their childhood.

 

  • Explore your sexuality.

This is your time to understand and appreciate what your body is capable of. Do not settle for anything or anyone.

 

You have survived high school. You can survive this too. Happy adulting!

 

Published by
Monimoyee Chakrabarty