Adulting – The Lifelong Subscription No One Warned Us About

Adulting, that state we can’t unsubscribe from. There’s no pause button, no breaks. Its a never-ending, continuous cycle of showing up every single day, even on days you don’t want to.

When I was a child, I looked up to the adults around me in awe. They seemed to have it all under control. I never heard them complaining. Now that I’m an adult myself,  I have come to realise that they probably had days they struggled too. They had just mastered the art of holding it together, at least for the younger ones watching.

Does anyone ever really have it figured out? Or we are  all just winging it, doing our best and hoping it’s enough? After all, this is the first time we are all doing it.  There’s no formula. No rehearsal. we haven’t been here before.

That’s why we need to stop being so hard on ourselves. We need to give ourselves grace, always. Because honestly, it’s not easy.

One day you are a child in primary school and all you have to worry about is your homework and playing with your friends after school, then almost in the blink of an eye you are an adult. You have bills to pay, goals to crush and Excel sheets demanding your attention. You wonder: Where did the time go? How did you get here?

Is there an option to unsubscribe?

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there isn’t. You have to pull through. Somehow.

There is no bell that rings to usher you into adulthood. No official ceremony. You just wake up with responsibilities. And suddenly, people actually rely on you for things. You. How is that even possible? You have barely figured it out yourself.

So ultimately,  we keep going. Showing up. Because that’s all we can do really.

Maybe, by some miracle, we will figure it out. Or maybe we won’t. But what matters most is that we are trying. That we are doing our best, sometimes in less than ideal circumstances.

And for that, we deserve some credit.