By I have come to the conclusion we have all been lied to. What am I referring to you ask? As children, watching our favorite shows and cartoons, we were made to believe being an adult meant we could do anything we wanted to at any time we chose to. This belief is a total lie. Adulthood is nothing like movies, TV shows, or cartoons. Daily I find myself mentally and emotionally exhausted from being an adult. Every day, as of late, there is a never-ending list of things that need my attention as soon as possible. In addition to the as soon as possible list, I have multiple other lists on my notes app on my phone. This show is not what I signed up for when I imagined becoming an adult.
I am certain I am not the only person who feels this way daily. Each of you I’ve felt this way before or currently, haven’t you? I imagine everybody who’s reading this nodding their heads and understanding. The question becomes, then, how do we thrive in adulthood? I have a few ideas because they help me to do just that. The most important thing to remember is that no one gets through life well or it comes close to thriving in life by themselves. Life is an all-hands-on deck journey. In my world, what I just said is called together.
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day Who said a profound truth to me. The profound truth is this:” it doesn’t Just take a village to raise a child or until you reach a certain age, it takes a village for all of us to get through life well.” His words were not only accurate but very comforting. I realized through our conversation that how I’m feeling currently is not just a feeling specific to me. It is universal. His reassuring words allow me to relax, somewhat, because no one really knows exactly what they’re doing in life and/or how to be an adult properly.
That aspect of growing up is not related to my cerebral palsy. It is a consequence of being human. That aspect of being human means we’re living by making mistakes, asking for forgiveness as often as needed, and trying again to do better and be better. If we do just that we will have not just lived well, but we will have not wasted one minute of the time we have been given here. We will have thrived at the end of this life.
