When I was younger, I thought that adults generally knew what was going on.
They always seemed to know what to do and were incredibly competent. Additionally, adults never questioned life and what was going on. They always knew what was right and what was not.
Adults were astonishing people from my somewhat naive viewpoint as a child.
Fair enough - they had years and years of life experience and education that was still to come for me. But, in any case: I was sooo much looking forward to becoming an adult myself.
However, now that I am, there is a slight disappointment.
The Disappointment
Why?
Well, let me start here: Where is the magic wisdom adults seem to bear? I am still waiting for it.
And while I am waiting, the suspicion that I've been naively ignoring some of them talking with me about lifelong learning becomes obvious.
Certainly, lifelong learning was nothing I really paid too much attention to. It was just a buzzy phrase that I would have replied with an annoyed "Yes yes - let me finish school, and then I know it all."
As it turns out: Lifelong learning is actually a thing. No one can or should ever stop learning.
Laying the Foundation
One thing for sure: The day I finished my school education after 13 years, I felt like a rockstar.
Just to learn that I had no idea whatsoever on the next day. I clearly wasn't a rockstar. The 13 years of school education was only to lay the foundation for what was yet to come.
However, two additional years of vocational training followed by another six years of learning in the university got me closer to feeling like a rockstar again. I knew for sure that I had finally completed my education.
I was ready to conquer the world 😎
However - you can ask anyone: People coming from university are mostly nothing more than little arrogant newbies that cause more harm than good.
Well - if that is not the most disappointing finding ever, what could it possibly be?
Reframing Adulthood
It may take a while, but most of us realize that the first 25 years of life are just one part of a lifelong learning journey. The easiest part, maybe. Isn't it a primarily guided binge-learning episode where every failure has only a minor influence?
Consequently, now the more difficult part starts in which it becomes visible whether we paid attention during the first episode and learned something valuable.
Are you able to make sure to keep on getting proper education and training ongoingly to be able to navigate in the world of adults sophistically?
I needed to reframe my viewpoint of adulthood and understand that there is no magical wisdom. There is only a continuous learning journey that provides you with more and more knowledge and experience and allows you to manage life and adulthood somewhat competently.
What I saw in adults as a child was only the outcome of their continuous effort to stay ahead of the game.
Depending on where you are currently heading - you need to find out what you need to learn and where you get your training. The offerings are there. And sometimes, all there is is trial and error.
To summarize, I love the idea that I can explore whatever I want. That's maybe the main advantage as an adult: The infinite benefit of choosing what to teach me compared to the mainly guided and instructed first 25 years. Or were you able to define what lectures to take in school? Well, me neither.
That being said: Hello adulthood - nice to meet you, and thanks for keeping on teaching me.
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