F*ck Growing Up

Growing up is one of the things we all have to do unfortunately. We all have to go out in the real world and somehow succeed. We have to somehow make a life for ourselves. We have to somehow go out in the world and put all the things that we learned in school into context. We have to leave the comforts of our saftey net and go out in the real world. This can be equal parts exciting and terrifying. It can be exciting because you get to get out of your parents house and have some independence. There are alot of exciting parts to growing up. But as there are exciting parts there are also terrifying parts. And that's what nobody tells you. They don't tell you that you have to figure it out on your own. They don't tell you that school didn't prepare for the real world. School just taught you math,science and all that. They don't teach you how to live in the world. They give you skills for a job and that's it really.

They don't tell you that there's no set of rules to follow, they don't tell you that you have to think about every penny you spend. They don't tell you that you have to deal with rent, bills and all sorts of stuff. They don't tell you that it's not going to be easy. They don't tell you that things are expensive. They don't tell you how to budget. School doesn't teach you any of that stuff. Even if your parents tell you that you can always come home if something happens, they still expect you to find your own way again. They've raised you to the best of their abilities, they've given you everything you need. They've loved you beyond measure. But they can't have you around forever. They're getting older and may not be able to keep up with you or help you as well anymore. They've held your hand through the good, bad and ugly. Now unfortunately you have to hold your own sometimes.

Now I need to pause for a minute and acknowledge those who don't have loving parents or whose parents have passed away. I'm so sorry for you and I hope you find healing and peace. Truly, I'm not just saying that. I actually hope you do.

I also need to pause and acknowledge all the young people who had to move back home due to covid. My advice to you would be enjoy this time. Take this time to really reinvent yourself and maybe heal from things you haven't healed from. You'll be thankful you did.

So in a lot of ways growing up is a trap, it's a trap because there is so much we haven't learned and need to learn. There is so much that wasn't taught to us in school. Nobodies giving us gold stars for simply surviving. I'd like to add Mental Health into this mix here. Nobodies giving us gold stars for surviving and actively fighting a mental illness. It's not easy. How often do you tell someone something that was really hard for you to say and they just brush it off with a simple "Everything will be okay"

That's not helpful. It's more helpful if we help each other survive. Maybe we'd be less scared and anxious if we had people giving us gold stars for simply suriving. Maybe if schools taught us how to survive Growing Up wouldn't seem like such a trap. Maybe just maybe if these things happened the world would be a better place.