On Being a Grown Up

At 24 years old, I think most people would say that I'm officially a grown up. I've graduated from college...twice. My parents can't claim me on insurance anymore. I make decisions, and I have to deal with the consequences of those decisions whether I like it or not. I can't pass the buck on to anyone else.

There are a lot of great things about being a grown up. For instance, I get to eat what I want to, when I want to, and no one can do anything about it. But then I found out a couple of years ago that eating cheesy bread from Dominos and a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's for supper everyday isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not only did it make me feel like a slob, but it made me look like one, too. So then, I started eating a well-balanced diet with vegetables like broccoli and sweet potatoes--eating dessert only on special occasions. Using Splenda whenever possible.

As a grown up, my apartment can stay messy as long as I want it to. No one can tell me that I have to sweep or mop or vacuum. But then, one day, I thought things looked too unorganized, and I can't live in disorganization. Plus, people were coming over to visit, and I didn't want them to think I was an animal. So I started to clean, and vacuum, and sweep, and clean the toilets. And I was happy because the apartment was livable again.

As a grown up, I get to go to sleep when I want to. I can stay up late any night of the week watching R-rated movies for all anyone else cares. But then, I didn't like waking up in the morning so exhausted from the night before so I started going to sleep at 9 o'clock because I knew, then, I would get the rest I needed to make it through the day ahead. I didn't care if people called me grandma. I'm an adult and I can go to sleep at 9 o'clock if I want to. As for R-rated movies, they're a little too intense for me. I worry that I might injure the person next to me by squeezing their hands too hard during the intense battle epics. So I stuck with the unobtrusive PG movies.

As I contemplated my adult life, I made several observations but Then...Eureka...I realized I was doing all the things I begrudgingly did as a child when my parents told me I had to. Why, when I was a child, did I hate vegetables, want to stay up late, never clean my room? Now, I do those things all the time because I want to. My only conclusion is the issue of authority. When someone told me I had to do it, I didn't want to. Now that no one tells me what to do, I act the way the grown-ups always wanted me to... and I like it.