Steps to Becoming a Grown Up

1. Do your own laundry
2. Wash your dishes after you use them.
3. Make mistakes; learn from your own experiences.
4. Let your friends into your life.
5. Weed out the bad influences.
6. Experience heartbreak.
7. Give forgiveness and allow yourself to be forgiven.
8. Learn the difference between a compliment and an insult.
9. Find out what real love feels like.
10. Get a way to get around independently.
11. Learn how to trust.
12. Work hard for what you want.
13. Make your own money.
14. Balance your needs and desires.
15. Become financially independent.
16. Book your own appointments.
17. Choose to do the right thing on your own.
18. Accept good advice and respect constructive criticism.
19. Believe in your own abilities.
20. Rely on yourself.
21. Trust someone to take care of you, if you need it.
22. Make memories.
23. Understand differences of opinion are okay.
24. Look deeper than the black and white of the book.
25. Allow yourself to have fun.
26. Remember that the world was made in color, not grayscale.
27. Accept yourself for who you are.
28. Sort out your priorities.
29. Make your bed without being told.
30. Make promises and then keep them.

I wonder if people go through some sort of initiation ceremony into adulthood,
or if you just have to work your way through the pain and tears and heartbreak of adolescence.
I wonder if anyone is waiting on the other side to welcome you in,
or if it feels just as lonely.
I wonder if being a grown up empowers you,
or if the suddenness of being allowed to make your own decisions cripples you.
I wonder if everyone grows up eventually,
or if we're too scared to let go completely.
I wonder if the people that seem so grown up, so frighteningly mature, wish that they had stayed children,
or if they wish they could've become the artist they wanted to be instead of the CEO they became.
I wonder if grown ups know what they are doing,
or if they're just as clueless as any of us.
I wonder if the meaning of life suddenly becomes clear when you're an adult,
or if you're still stuck, feeling like you've been wandering in circles forever.
I wonder if becoming an adult grounds you to where you are,
or if the wanderlust is amplified.
I wonder if the adults wish that they hadn't settled down because it seemed time,
or if they wished they could've made more mistakes in their lives.
I wonder if the mistakes you make a permanent when you're an adult,
or if you're still allowed to learn from them.
I wonder if anybody grows up at all.  It doesn't sound very fun.  Why do we all race towards the unknown when if we really knew what it was like, we would sit back and enjoy the ride. I wonder if someday I'm going to wish that I'd stayed a child, instead of aspiring to be a grown up just so that I could have my own freedom.  Is the freedom worth the cost?  Is the freedom of driving a car worth losing the freedom of expression or the freedom of free time?  Is the freedom of spending your own money worth the cost of  abandoning your childhood dreams?  Is the freedom worth the cost?