I also had a tough time with this one. It is difficult to answer questions that span your entire life. If it had asked "What lesson have you learned this year" that would have been easy, but thinking of everything I've learned over 26 years of life is tricky!
I think one of the harder lessons I've had to learn is that work is hard, and it is very necessary. Sounds obvious, I know. But think of it this way:
We live in what I affectionately refer to as the Peter Pan age. It seems as though everyone wants to reap benefits, but no one wants to work. I believe that this stems from our fascination with staying young, and I don't just mean physically.
Don't get me wrong. There are some things you shouldn't grow out of. For example, I like to dress up as characters and go to scifi conventions. This is not an "adult" thing to do, but it's fun. Fun is a good thing! It keeps your soul young! Plus, people like to be around other people who are fun.
The thing I'm talking about is our refusal to be independent. I do so wish that some fairy godmother would come grant me a jillion dollars (taxfree) and pay off my student loans on top of that, but it's not going to happen, so I have to be fiscally responsible. What comes along with fiscal responsibility? That's right, A JOB! And these magical things called budgets! What a freaking drag.
I think that because of movies and social media and the wealth of get-rich-quick schemes we're berated with daily, we sort of develop this idea of entitlement. I should have more money, and I should not do anything more for it. This is a pipe dream, and it's just not realistic. I suppose in my brainplace I always knew work would be... well... work, but I never really thought about what that would look like in practice.
You know what they don't show on Friends or How I Met Your Mother or even Breaking Bad? People going to work daily. Because no one wants to do that! So, we get this unrealistic idea in our heads that somehow we will have time to have a job that pays well, go out drinking with our friends every week, AND have a shitload of free time to enjoy each other's company!
I'm not blaming TV for this. I'm not even really blaming the prior generation for not raising us to work hard. I blame us. That's the thing about adulthood. If you are mistaken, you can only blame yourself because no one else is responsible for you.
How depressing, right?
But, really it isn't. Being a "grown up" is a really good thing. I may not be able to take a jet to the Caribbean and sleep on a beach all day (a fantasy I've never understood because it sounds boring), but I can make good financial choices and pay off my student loan debt. I can afford to live in a house that I like. I can afford to fix most things when they break. And, yes, I can afford to go to the occasional nerd convention.
Plus, if I want to, I can have cake for dinner. Adulthood kind of rocks.
- Bowman
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