There’s a new verb out there. Adult used to refer to a person of a certain age. Now it means to do things that a person of a certain age is supposed to do. This can be anything from the laundry to taxes. Seems like every other time I get on Facebook or Instagram there’s a Meme, generally posted by one of my younger, Millennial friends, about the awful thing called Adulting. Either they have managed to Adult that day in a way that makes them proud but also tired and generally disdainful of their need to Adult, OR they are wishing that they didn’t have to do any Adulting that day.
I can relate.
But I’m no Millennial. I’m a Gen-Xer, and I’ve been adulting for many years.
Or have I?
Looking in from the outside, it probably appears that I am, indeed an Adult Who Adults. I pay my rent, buy groceries, pay taxes, balance my checking account, do laundry and have a private practice that keeps me from living on the streets. I also interview well and tend to present as a smart and capable person.
Look deeper. I’ve spent most of my life riding the coat tails of other people. I have let other people BE my structure and security. Without an external structure, I sleep late, eat crap, barely pay attention to my finances, leak money on junk and junk food, and put little or no effort into my work. And taxes…
