How to stop worrying about the future and growing up?
Throughout today, I keep hearing about a few people and seeing posts about growing up, growing old, and harder life challenges down the line. I wish it didn't give this much distress as it's easy for me to get new, scary thoughts that interfere and cause extreme emotions and pain. I keep thinking about the things I have right now as a kid, and how they will slowly fade away throughout time. Some specific ones I mainly mention that make me stress out is the loss of breaks like Winter Break, Summer Break, Spring Break, etc., it feels like your birthdays become more of a normal day instead of celebratory, and sometimes, it seems like sometimes you have lesser time to have fun and have WAY more responsibility, and there's also this nostalgia that I'm scared to feel when I'm an adult, that being: "I'm being a kid again." "This reminds me of my childhood." "I miss my childhood!" I don't want to say goodbye to being a kid and then missing it. I'm a very emotional person, and I struggle to calm down when getting into a mess of moods. While I know being an adult is different for everyone, however, there are just many bad things I think about adulthood and what I'll do for the rest of my life when I AM an adult. Life will also get harder and there WILL be more things to stress about, and the expectations I set for myself are INCREDIBLY and TIRING HARD! But- I believe my expectations will only get worse as the general requirement for success gets harder and harder, and you are expected to do MORE as you grow up. I hate worrying about becoming an adult when I'm still young. I should focus on my childhood and the things I DO have instead of missing them and wasting my time. I can't stop all these worries happening over and over again. I don't even worry JUST about growing up, there's SO many things I worry, worry, worry constantly about. Low self-esteem and constantly bullying myself in my head. I should think about the positives of being an adult, but I'm blinded by all the negatives I see. It feels like, in this world, there's a LOT more negative things than positive things. I hate feeling all icky and convoluted as my emotions are very intense, too intense for me to handle and manage. How will I handle my waa-waa self as an adult? I'll have to suck it up and toughen up instead of crying all the time, getting pouty and angry at stupid things, and having stupid tantrums in my room. Alone in my room.
@Megalomentaurus
Worrying and stressing about the future happens to most people .... the things we worry about often are not the things that are important. Life throws you surprises and changes all the time .... one moment , one decision can uproot all things but we paralyze ourselves wasting time with worry and fear about what ifs.... instead live for today and always be ready for a detour.
Time is our most valuable asset yet we waste so much thinking we can do something ... when we are X age or in x amount of years ..... welcome the challenges you face do not stress about things you will miss and find good and something to smile about in each day....
@Megalomentaurus
As someone who's also entering adulthood, I definitely relate to all your feelings. It's almost impossible to avoid worrying about the future because we don't know what's lying in front us, yet we have to step onto that path, fearing that we might not achieve the expectations we install upon ourselves. I often reminisce my childhood and wish that I can just travel back to the time where I have no idea what future is.
But the reality is that growing up and growing older is inevitable and sometimes we just have to accept it. We never know what we will become and what's gonna happen to us in the future, but we DO know who we are and what we need to do in the present moment. The present is what we can control and it's important to take advantage of it because it's the most possible way to steer your future in the direction to which you envision it.
Growing up is all about facing challenges and finding ways to overcome it. No matter how much you fear it or how hard you deny it, this experience is what's constantly re-shaping you to adapt to changes and become the person you are right now. So don't be too apprehensive about growing up 💗 because the challenges you encounter along the way will help you adjust yourself to the role of an adult. Instead of resisting it, try to embrace it as part of maturing.
I hope this can make you feel a little better :)
@Megalomentaurus
Are there some tougher times when you're an adult versus when you're a kid? Yes, and no. It's really just that you maybe have more difficult responsibilities than you have now. And sometimes you have a lot more responsibilities as a kid - get up, go to school, get good grades, do your chores, do your extra-curricular activities, do everything GREAT, get the best grades for college, take those tests, apply to college, be great there....
When I write those out, I get a little anxious, and I've already been through all of that! :)
Being an adult is not always fun - but it is fun. And an adventure! Every decade I've lived through has been a way for me to learn and grow. As I've gotten older, I've made fewer mistakes, which makes life easier. I've gotten smarter. I've learned how to live and interact with people better.
I have fun. I still play. I LOVE games. cards, board, video - you name it, I'll play it! People talk about being an adult like you have to struggle through life and there's no fun left. It's all work, work, work.
Work is just a small part - like going to school right now. But I travel, goof off, go out with friends, attend parties, spend time with family. Work actually allows me to do a lot more because I can afford a lot more!
I don't miss my childhood. I look back on it fondly, and think of all the good times I had. But I also look back on all the good times I've had as an adult, too.
Your adult future is what you make it to be. Have fun and don't lose the spirit of being a kid!