Do you feel like a grown-up yet?

As I get older, I’m starting to think that nobody ever really feels grown up. I’m in my 40s and I’m not sure I do.

Sure, we take on responsibilities, adjust to norms based on what society says we should do at our age, and mature as we experience more. Yes, we become “grown-ups” in comparison to those who are younger than us.

But there isn’t (at least yet for me) some magical mind change that happens, where I feel like a grown-up.

I suspect that people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond just “feel” old because their bodies tell them they are. And, depending on the person, maybe their mind isn’t as sharp as it once was.

As a wise woman once said:

Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Asking a child this question seems silly, for several reasons:

• The thing they’ll become (assuming we’re asking about what job they want) likely hasn’t been invented yet. No kid in the 80s was saying:
  “I wanna be a social media coordinator when I grow up”.
• When is this “grown-up” age, exactly? 18? 21? 30? 40?
• It implies jobs, instead of things like: happy, kind, a world traveler, empathetic, reliable, consistent, etc.

Also, the chances that someone will be just ONE thing when they grow up are not high. Gone are the days where you take the job at age 25 then retire from that same thing 40 years later.

If We’re Not Grown-Ups, Then What Are We?

That’s the question then, right? If the concept of “grown-up” is nebulous and different for everybody, what the heck are we? I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out.

For now, I’ll be over here…growing up.

Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog