The Unexpected Adulthood
One day you are sitting around having fun with your friends talking about the places you’ll visit and the things you’ll do in the next holiday together and suddenly the next day the world is upside down and you are sitting alone in Starbucks in a city that you once called your own, writing a blog about how things have taken a turn.
Things change from choosing which movie to watch this weekend to which exams(CAT, GRE, GMAT or GATE) to prepare for ‘a better future’. Everything you did ‘because it sounds fun’ goes down the drain because you get busy ‘trying to earn’. No doubt paying your own bills, living on your own and being independent bring out the best in you, but at the same time, they also take the best from you.
I decided that I wouldn’t be a part of this mad rush,that I would take things slow and simple. That I will become the you that ‘did things differently’, and, I did become that. I began working on my own, met a couple of interesting people and worked on ideas I felt, could use my input, hence I became a freelancer. But isn’t it funny that I am sitting here today in Starbucks, sipping from my cup of hot chocolate, with only my laptop to give me company, thinking about finding a place for myself and making some steady income? Trying to curb the feeling to run away to a different city and meet new faces. Trying even harder not to pick up the phone and call up someone familiar because everyone is supposedly busy, even though it absolutely sucks to sit here alone. Suddenly, and unexpectedly I have been welcomed to this socially developed version of adulthood.
What do I do now? This is not what I want and I am not someone who will sit around and accept things as they are. From this moment on, I will make a conscious effort to make things better, to change my definition of adulthood. Because, no matter how unprepared I am, or how unexpectedly things have appeared to change. no matter how tough I am on myself for not seeing it through, I still have the capability to change, because:
I am awesome.
Funny. We were very busy then, and are busy now. Every now and then, I do pick up the phone to call familiar faces. I do it because ot helps me keep in touch with myself. We all had ambitions, hopes, and dreams.. often those that came up from those conversations we had while sipping the coffee you mentioned. But life hit us right in the adulthood, and we all decided to go get busy. The truth, however, is that I still intend going through with almost everything that we discussed, because thats what makes us who we are. And exactly like you said, most of us are figuring out ways to fund our future. But that’s not the end of the story. You always meet new people, you always have that one person sipping coffee alone in front of a laptop at Starbucks. Go talk to them, build a new relationship, make friends, have fun. I guess the definition of what “fun” is changes over time. Fun and Leisure for me now constitute reading law books or talking to old men in overalls with wisdom of the world. Hm.. In retrospect, its not that far off from the past.
I’ll come to the point. You are awesome. But if you feel something sucks, then don’t do it. Or better yet, find a fun way to do it. Give yourself the benefit of doubt, and get better at reaching your goals. You did get one thing right, though.. Make things better. But its not just for now, its for every living moment.
P.S. Call me you ass.