Have you ever paused from your daily routine and thought about how much you’ve grown emotionally over the course of your life? Many of us tend to reflect on this thought at some point of time. We realize that we are no longer the deluded teens we once were and that somewhere along the line we have subconsciously become fairly responsible adults. Some of the major changes in the way we perceive things as teens and as adults are listed below.
1. We Learn To Set More Realistic Goals
The millennial trend for an ambitious student who just graduated is to go out into the world hoping to solve world hunger and stop war. If you haven’t had these unrealistic expectations for yourself back when you were in school, you were a part of the lucky few who didn’t get crushingly disappointed when they entered the work life. A huge part of the adulting process is being able to understand and differentiate the achievable from the extreme idealism. This is a great place to be at as it helps you plan a more realistic goal chart as to where you want to be in time.
2. Change In The Way We Perceive Happiness…
Philosophers, psychologists, theologians and really just every human that has ever lived has desperately tried to understand what happiness is. When we were younger we assumed certain things would bring us happiness like having an unlimited source of money or being popular. As we adult, our ideas change enormously. We begin to realize that the fancy high paying job might not give us the freedom to do what we want and if we choose the path of freedom, it might mean giving up the pleasures that only money can buy. We realize that buying the more affordable car can make us just as happy as buying our dream sports car if we are able to change our ideas of what makes us happy.
3. …And In The Way We See Love
In our younger days, most of us perceived love as being an absolutely magical and romantic experience. We associated love with the feeling of “falling in love” which studies have shown is a biological and biochemical process. Author and Psychologist Scott Peck says: “Love is not effortless. To the contrary, love is effortful.” He describes love as disciplined process and a conscious effort on the part of the individuals involved. Most of us come to realize this the older we get.
4. A Stronger Sense Of Self And Identity
A common phase of the adolescent process is the need to fit in. This is a crucial part of growing up because the teen explores the ideas of his or her identity and self. As we adult, we begin to notice that we get more comfortable in our own skin and our sense of identity is much stronger than what it used to be. We come to understand who we are and what we want in life better and begin to stop looking for cues from our peers.
5. Things That Used To Excite You, No Longer Do
As teens exploring life, most of us would have felt an intense sense of adventure while trying out our first joint or sneaking into that concert that we were too young to attend. As we get older, these thrills seem to have a different effect. We may still enjoy them of course, but in a very different way. A positive familiar satisfaction is more likely what we feel rather than the heart pounding feeling of doing something that we were once not allowed to.
6. Greater Sense Of Responsibility
As teens, we may have gotten away with being irresponsible for our actions but as adults, we realize that responsibility is unavoidable. We begin to comprehend that we are responsible for ensuring our survival in the world and that, that is the one thing you can’t pass off to anyone else. We curb acting on impulse and begin to think about the consequences that will follow our actions.
7. We Learn That The World Does Not Revolve Around Us
During the adulting process, one of the things we come to see differently is that fact that we are not as important as we think we are. We eventually face the fact that we are just one of the many organisms that live and die and are merely just a spec in the sand of life. We begin to see that there is more to the world than just our existence in it.
