For most people, growing up isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Yes, there’s a level of freedom that comes along with it. But there are also limitations that many of us are bound by. You can’t really do whatever you want unless you have an unlimited stream of income. So most of us are tied down to jobs that we don’t care about just so we can keep food on the table and a roof over our heads.
Psychologist Shaurya Gahlawat also says that there’s a certain grief that accompanies growing up. She explains that losing childhood friendships, navigating adult relationships, and dealing with the stress of a full-time job can come with an immense emotional weight that none of us are prepared for. Eventually, we realize that “grown-ups” don’t have all the answers, and we’re all just doing our best.
One of the most challenging aspects of adulthood is having to work seemingly all the time. On average, people spend 90,000 hours, or one-third of their lifetime, at work. That’s a pretty depressing statistic. Especially because, growing up, most of us were sold the myth of having a healthy work-life balance. In reality, however, 77% of employees report experiencing burnout from working too much.
Meanwhile, becoming an adult means being bombarded with decisions to make. What do you want to do for work? Where do you want to live? What should you make for dinner? When can you see your friends? There’s nobody else around to make decisions for you and simply tell you what to do. And it can be exhausting when you’re faced with dozens of decisions every day, big and small. Decision fatigue makes adult life so much more challenging than it should be.
When it comes to the most despised aspects of being an adult, Bolde notes that number one is the fact that bills never stop coming. There’s also the fact that your body doesn’t function the same way that it did when you were a teenager. Staying up late, having a few drinks, or getting injured will take a much larger toll on you than it did in the past. You don’t bounce back as quickly, and you have to plan your life accordingly.
Something else that nobody warns you about before you become an adult is how difficult it is to make friends or maintain friendships. In college, all of your friends probably lived within close proximity to each other. But after graduation, people spread out across the country, or even across the globe. And suddenly, everyone is busy with work and personal obligations, and it becomes nearly impossible to even schedule a dinner with your buddies. Especially after they’re married with kids!
Another aspect of being an adult that’s a total drag is the fact that your “free” time often turns into running errands and doing chores. Unless you work from home, you’re never going to have the chance to do laundry, clean the house, and meal prep during working hours. So your evenings and weekends can barely be considered free. You have to find the time to balance your hobbies and social life alongside keeping your life in order. And of course, you still need to get a good night’s sleep if you want to stay healthy.
We hope that this article doesn’t come off as too negative, though, pandas. Adulthood is full of responsibilities and challenges, but it doesn’t have to be miserable. In fact, it’s important that you still find ways to incorporate joy and whimsy into your life; otherwise, you might just go crazy. Kathleen Alfano, Child Development and Play Expert, recommends planning time for play into your day, so you don’t go without it. This can be as simple as daydreaming or finding opportunities to smile and laugh; as long as you’re experiencing joy, you’re on the right track.
