Random Thoughts: Being An Adult

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine that I have known since high school. We were talking about all the changes that happen when you become an adult and how it was difficult to grow up.

As a little girl, my thoughts on being an adult were simple: you are an adult when you finish school. That was it. I didn't even figure in the 'getting a job' part!  But of course as time and fate would happen all that changed. I realized you become an adult when you experience the following things (you don't have to experience all btw):

1. You have your own money. This could be in the form of you being sent money, earning money, or growing money. Whatever it is, you have it and you have to be mature enough to manage it.
2. You have work to do. It's this point of adulthood that I found most fun. It was great to start working! It was more than fun to earn, to see the fruit of your labor and ultimately to have ever changing goals. Some of the highest points I've considered in life include the time I was promoted :)
3. You are responsible for the life of others. You need not have kids to be this. This comes in the form of different people, it could be your siblings whom you are helping to send to school, your parents whom you give part of your salary to, or even that sickly relative whom all of your family has helped out to fund his/her health care.
4. You have bills. This is the bitter part of adulthood but it is the most unavoidable. Being an adult includes having payables. You can't call yourself a true adult IMHO, if you've never paid a bill or felt harassed during bills payment due dates lol
5. You think of the future and how to secure it. Now this part has to have a certain amount of maturity to it. Many 'adults' think of the future, what, where and who they want to be, but it takes a real adult to include the HOW they are going to do it part and actually plan it out.

Honestly, being an adult is a multitude of things, I simply condensed it to the five points as those are the 'recurring themes' in mine and the lives of the people around me. In the end, anyone can grow old, but it takes a lot more than age to grow up :)