Yes, I used the term, and am proud of it. I am officially, Adulting.
The big girl job, the big(ger) girl loans, and a gradually grown-up mindset as to how to succeed in the workforce and in the 20s decade.
I am writing about this topic because my co-workers had no idea what it meant, and this to me was so interesting because it is used quite frequently in our community to describe the growth into a new stage of life. Everybody at some point has gone through the process of Adulting, and now our community has chosen to simply label it with a word. Adulting is more importantly an experience that CFers born 10-15 years before me did not get to grow into. CF has slowly turned into an adult disease and it is now a stage many of us get to, and should, choose to thrive on and enjoy.
TIME magazine recently wrote an article on describing why this term recently appeared and flourished. The main reason was that young people are starting their lives much later than their parents, with the age of a first-time mother being "historically high" at age 26. According to the article, the average first time homeowner is much older as well. Persons in their 20s and early 30s are using the term as a way to joke about their later transition into this phase of life.
But who is to say there has to be a norm on where we should be, at what time? Who says we have to make decisions based on our ticking age clock?
Now I know, I know life is really short - I blinked and went from 6 to 26 years old. I can still remember vividly my first grade classroom with the blue reading loft with the wooden ladder and how to make SandArt. But what I find is that CF does not allow many of us to have a normal timeline due to "interruptions" lets say. We have to adapt our life plans, sometimes more frequently than we would like, and still try to continue to grow and thrive through those challenges to continue on the journey. Similar to our young adults today who have had to adapt to economical changes (i.e. astronomical education costs, rising gas in New Jersey;) or family changes like taking care of a sick family member or supporting a spouse/family member in their quest to join the service, Persons Adulting with CF (PAW-CF, totally coining it) have to adapt due to the unexpected like an extended hospitalization, denial of meds through health insurance plans, or simply trying to balance CF factors with life factors.
So the joy that I find in everyday Adulting is the fact that I am, in reality, in full flesh, able to Adult. My Adulting, like the rest of the adulting community, is filled with a great number of shoots and ladders (90s game, anyone?) but I think where I am different is I do not feel as pressured by a time clock, because I am Adulting as best as I can, all the while content knowing I get to experience these amazing years in my life and hopefully many more years beyond.
Breathing & Beating,
Meghan
Reference: http://time.com/4361866/adulting-definition-meaning/
