Growing Up
The older we get, the more we realize that time is precious. Once we realize this, the growing pain begins. With this, we experience the fear of aging and the fear of time moving too fast. In our younger years (ages 0-10), we experience life carefree and joyous – oblivious to the world’s struggles. In our middle years (ages 11-14), we begin to experiment with ourselves and get a sneak peek at what is to come in life. The teen years (15-19) are filled with some of the best and worst memories we will ever make – this is the time of our lives where we really test ourselves. Adulthood (ages 20+) is where the growing pains really kick in, and we realize that we are always going to be kids, just more responsible ones (hopefully).
The Younger Years
When we are young, the thought of getting old was not even a thought. We believe to be invincible and that nothing will ever really change. Life is easy, simple, and fun. Our younger years are filled with art, laughter, and adventures. The sidewalk outside of our house turns into our own versions of the Mona Lisa, the children next door turn into our best friends, and the big tree outside becomes our own version of a dinosaur. You see, when we are children, life is full of opportunity and joy – we are oblivious to the struggles of the adults around us, the struggles our families are going through, and the dangers of society. However, that’s the true beauty of our younger years; we had nothing to worry about except ourselves.
Our biggest worries are what snack we should have in between Spongebob episodes and not how are we going to worry about paying rent this month or how to deal with anxiety and depression every day. It’s so crazy that in these precious years, we wish to grow up and do what the adults do. Every one of us has an internal child in us when we get older, and this internal child is actually us – we all created goals for our lives and had so much excitement in us to be where we are now. But what happened to all of it? Where is the excitement? Have you made your younger self proud?
The Middle Years
Our middle years are the years of us becoming awkward. These are the years where we reinvent who we are without yet going through adulthood’s real struggles. The years of learning how to talk to crushes, figuring out what circle of friends we want to surround ourselves with, and figuring out who we really are. These are the years where decisions start to become the realities of who we may become. The years of many firsts – first dances, first kisses, first real mistakes. These are the years that begin to prepare us for what is to come. Our hormones begin to go crazy, along with our emotions. These are the years where we begin to feel emotions that we do not know how to contain or control. The middle years are where we think we know everything, but in all reality, we know nothing.
The Teen Years
The teenage years make us feel like the hulk – invincible and unstoppable. The world feels like our oyster. Of course, with the good comes the bad. The teen years hold heartbreak, loss, regrets, and addictions. These become the years we make adult decisions and do not realize these decisions come with adult consequences. Teenage years are where we get a taste of what responsibilities, bills, and hardships are. Our souls feel ready to take on the world, but our hearts know we are not. It seems like once we turn fifteen, all-time stops, and we’re 15 forever.
Adulthood
Adulthood is just us as children with adult responsibilities. As children, we looked at adults as heroes. When we were teenagers, we already thought of ourselves as adults. But once you turn into an adult, you realize that our souls are truly just the child we once were with just a little more experience and knowledge – still lost, still finding our way and trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. Adulthood consists of a ton of growth, perseverance, and hardships. We find out that there’s never a set plan and that not everything happens how we want it to, but the way we need them to.
The Lessons of Growing Pains
All that said, our life stages shape us into who we’re supposed to become. The older we get, the faster the clock seems to tick. When we are kids, the world seems so big and so exciting. But when the lessons of life kick us down to the ground, it’s our responsibility to teach ourselves to stand right back up and to keep going.
Growing up is scary and inevitable. Taking a step back, it all makes sense; we needed the younger years to see the beauty, we needed the middle years to embrace our awkwardness, and the teenage years to prepare ourselves for all that is about to come. The beauty of it all is that we become wiser and stronger with getting older – we get to create our own stories. With each year we get older, the growing pains will always teach us the lessons we truly need. Some growing pains are expected; however, others may hit you in the face with no warning. Nonetheless, the lesson of the growing pains is not so much growing up itself but leaving our younger years behind and continuing our journeys with no idea of what else is about to come.
That’s how our growing pains become our strengths as we move forward in life.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today;
‘Time’ – Pink Floyd
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you;
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking;
Racing around to come up behind you again;
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older;
Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death;
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time;
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
