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Ever wondered what becoming an adult would entail? It’s not always the glory
days and moments of abundant freedom that we wish we slip into sooner as we stare
wistfully at our TV screens. Infact its way more than that and all at once. But cross the
adulting period and look back, you’ll never want it any other way. Coming from someone
who’s in the struggle, read on to find out what I’ve learnt so far!
Whoever said being a millennial was an easy task, you better eat your words back
right NOW! It’s frightening, exciting, and a little skip-a-beat in your heart, with its fair
share of the awesome and not-so-awesome days. A tumultuous melting pot of
emotions, minus the PMS (For guys, it’s an inside joke!) and god forbid you have
them both together, may you have the strength to get through those days!
Then again, it isn’t all that bad. With all that new found freedom comes a teeny bit
more responsibility, which kind of consecutively increases as the days go by. The
truth is, “love” is not a word that gets automatically linked to adulting because it just
doesn’t seem to fit into a socially accepted standard of something “fun”. But hey, it’s
all one day at a time. Right?
After all, there are no extended playtimes, no tiffins to share and definitely no PT
classes. But somehow the process of blooming into an adult is as fascinating as it
gets (even without all the hormonal changes!)
So without further ado, let’s get into a few of the amazing and sometimes even humorous things that make adulting the totally awesome thing it is:
1. Your own place, your own space!
Getting a place of your own is a big step on the road to becoming a real adult!
And what can be more fun than to inject some of your personality into your
living space (even hello kitty wall hangings, if you’re into it!), without anyone
having to judge you for the better or worse! Just keep in mind not to go
overboard with the spending! Now might even be a good time to organise all
those totally casual group hangs which you always dreamt of!
2. Let’s go job hunting!
The irony of trying to get a new job is that doing so is in itself a full-time job —
and a particularly frustrating one. There are only so many trying-to-be-clever-
but-not-too-clever job-specific resume tweaks you can make before you’ll
want to run screaming from your apartment building. Overwhelming much?
3. Landing that first job!
Starting your first job after college is the first major transition. Your job might
take you to a new area, sometimes a new state, and could force you into a
new living arrangement! Remember how every movie about post-grad life
shows the protagonist landing his or her dream job either right off the bat or
after a few humorous trials and tribulations under an overbearing boss. In all
honesty, it’s never going to be like that. Your first may not even be your dream
job. But the text message of money being credited at the beginning of the
month will make it seem all worth it, I promise!
4. Aaaand.. Keeping that new job too!
If you’re working that routine 9-5, then you can fully expect prolonged periods
of sitting without the liberty of those frequent college breaks. Also, your new
routine might not be something that you have relative control over- which
probably means the days of staying out late and getting to sleep in on
weekdays are over. On the brighter side, you do gain a newfound
appreciation for the weekend when you’re living in adult land.
5. Don’t ignore your funds
If there is really something that adulting teaches you about, it’s definitely
managing your funds. It might be tempting to spend your entire salary on
something super special — and, by all means, you should be treating yourself
for your hard work. But the mistake we always do is to put off on any saving
plans till the last few days and sooner than ever you’ll again be back to
borrowing from your friends who won’t hesitate to rub it in! All in good fun
though.
6. While you’re at it don’t ignore your loans!
Many of us tend to depend on study loans for a major part of our education. A
big mistake we often make is to put off that loan repayment or to pay back the
minimum for as long as possible. And while parents definitely have our backs,
you can’t beat that feeling of pride when you do manage to schedule your
payments and get that burden off your shoulders.
7. Travelling in traffic!
When you were living on a campus where everything was close by, traffic
would have been the least of your worries! But if your employment takes you
to a new town or state, or even a few streets away from comfort, then
comprehending traffic patterns and being able to schedule in time to possibly
shower, do your hair and makeup and pack a lunch is a very real struggle. Ugh!
8. Eat well
Now we come to possibly the most important of them all! Rising early, working
out, eating a healthy breakfast and packing a wholesome meal can be pretty
overwhelming! To save yourself some time, try planning your meals ahead
and storing it in ready-to-pickup boxes (if all fails, order in. No judging here)
Remember taking care of your body should come first!
9. Rise and shine sleepyhead!
Waking up early Mon.–Fri. is hard enough, without trying to get a couple
chores done before you head out for work. It’s easy to talk yourself into hitting
the snooze button when the only person counting on you to wake up is
yourself. But early mornings can be a great way to maximize your time, as
well as to energize yourself before the day begins. Try out yoga; it becomes
even cooler as you keep growing!
10. Group Workouts
Trying to fit exercise into your early morning routine? A great way to make
getting fit in the mornings both easy and way more fun is to make a
commitment with one or more friends to meet up for an early-a.m. group jog
or badminton session(pick any sport you like). That way you get the best of
both, little catching up and a fit body (hopefully!).
11. Not every night is party night
This might be hard to initially accept, but college doesn’t last forever and so
doesn’t going out every weekday night. The more adult thing is to remember
you have to work in the morning and make money. There’s this thing called
rent. You have to pay it, which is hard to do if you’re always spending it on
booze. No. 1 rule to remember: It’s hard to YOLO if you have ZERO in your
bank account.
12. Acceptance and moving on
Learning to accept mistakes and embracing our flaws is a crucial part of
getting older and understanding that we aren’t perfect. You’ll learn to discover
yourself through your failures and that the world does not come crashing
down around us when something goes wrong. You pick yourself up and you
get going!
13. You’ll never completely figure it all out:
It sounds terrifying, and it is. And that’s okay. Most people never do. Just think
about it, the universe is so infinitely filled with possibilities that we cannot even
comprehend. But that’s what makes it worthy of our awe. It gives you the best
gift of all: discovering yourself and our ability to be humbled by a world that’s
larger than us.
14. No one cares if you’re the popular one anymore:
This definitely mattered big time back in college, but out in the real world the
fear of being judged by the number of friends you have on Facebook is going
to the least of your worries, trust me when I say this! Being able to hold on to
just those handpicked few who have your back when you need a shoulder to
cry over your last breakup is exactly what you need now.
15. Failure is not the end of the road:
It can be so frightening to screw up anything, especially when you are
surrounded by other adults who seem to have it all sorted. But don’t let that
sucky job interview or burnt food put a damper on your spirits. You might not
get what you want all the time, but a lot of the time, what you end up with is
even better. So go on fail and learn from it for the better!
16. Also, looks are not always everything:
When you’re in college, a cute outfit was a must, especially if you had to catch
that cute guy’s eye. But as an adult, be thankful if you manage to still turn
heads while wearing crumpled clothes you picked off your bed. You should be
proud of saving the money you worked hard for. If you want to compete about
something, brag about how well you bargained from that street side shopkeeper.
Isn’t that great?
17. You can’t make everyone happy:
Now repeat after me. “I can’t please everyone. I can’t please everyone. I can’t
please everyone.” Truth be told, this little hack will save you from ever being a
doormat to anyone’s demands and will make you a happier person in the long
run. You might even lose a few friends along the way, but that’s how we find
our “forever people” isn’t it?
18. You’re going to do some things you don’t want to:
While it’s all so dreamy to be able to just throw away that crappy job and just
chase behind your dreams, it’s gonna be quite difficult if you’re not making
enough cash to fuel your crazy ambitions. Being an adult is realizing you can’t
have everything all at once and pulling up patience you never knew existed
until you get what you want.
19. Step out of your comfort zone:
This might not be true for everyone, but no offence, you can’t figure out who
you are if you never leave your hometown. At some point, you need to move
away or travel in order to see how much of the world there is. Is meeting new
people your thing? How well do you adjust to new food habits? You’ll never
know how you respond to curveballs life throws at you until you strive to
discover something outside of your own experience! Remember chose growth
over comfort.
20. Nevertheless, getting older is awesome!
Just a paragraph here might even just undermine this goldmine for what it is.
When you were a kid, you couldn’t stay up late, eat junk food for dinner or
decide if you even wanted to do housework at all - heck you get to make up
all the rules around here! I don’t know about you, but I’m stoked as hell for
what surprises my remaining twenties are set to bring for me!
So get set, on your mark, happy adulting!
By: Aishwarya Ganesh