“You’re allowed to have five emotional minutes in a day—then the rest, you gotta be a gangsta.”
I saw this quote on Instagram and immediately saved it for several reasons. The first being that I feel like it was written for me, and the second being that I need this reminder even though I have yet to use my five minutes.
I don’t quite remember when adulting no longer became fun, or if it ever was, but it’s as if I suddenly had an epiphany that I don’t want to do this anymore. Everyone wishes they were older and independent when they’re young, and we often make the declaration that we can’t wait to move out and be on our own, but that honeymoon phase of being self-sufficient doesn’t last very long.
Adulting is hard. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done, and just when you think you are on top of all your tasks, or your life in general, something else comes your way and you’re back to square one. There’s no guide on how to do things, on what “proper adulting” looks like—everyone just seems to be winging it. I’m here to tell you that’s okay.
Somewhere along the lines, we got caught up in believing by a certain age, we had to have everything figured out. That our lives would line up like M.A.S.H. (mansion, apartment, studio, house)—that game we used to play in study hall—and everything would magically fall into place. Wrong. Life is meant to be challenging. Nothing worth having comes easily, and while adulting may seem like a never-ending nightmare of a chore, it does have its perks.
There are moments when I’ve accomplished things all on my own, and I have to take a minute to acknowledge my hard work. There are also times when a bowl of ice cream after a long day sounds a lot better than something healthy—food choices like that wouldn’t happen if you were still depending on your parents.
We all struggle. We all have our ups and downs, but there are moments that make our cheeks hurt because we can’t stop smiling, days when laughter is the only sound we hear instead of stressful screams or heavy deep sighs. And those are the moments that make adulting worth it. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and no matter how long it takes you to get there, know that it’s your tunnel and not anyone else’s.
Now chin up and go kick adulting’s butt!
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