1. You’re not invincible.
You may have great memories of skateboarding and kickboxing from your youth and you might revel in showing off the scars you collected along the way, but the older you get, the less your body will be able to bounce back from the idiotic exuberances of youth. You are going to have to pick your battles. Just because you might be able to jump from the roof of the house to the garage doesn’t mean you should.
2. Patience is a virtue.
We live in a world that breeds short attention spans and severely limits a person’s ability to be patient, but the more able you are to wait for the good things in life, the better they will be. From money to relationships to career goals, rushing towards the finish line or your next great step is a sure fire way to miss out on a lot of valuable lessons and cheapen the things to accomplish on the way. Slow down.
3. You are responsible for yourself.
A shocking reality that many people need to face about growing up is that all the little things you took for granted as a kid require an actual effort on your part. When a light bulb burns out, there won’t magically be a new one waiting in a kitchen drawer. You actually have to go out and buy light bulbs. The same applies for food, medicine, and soap.
4. Your metabolism is slower.
In addition to not being able to heal itself as readily, your body will become less efficient at turning food into energy and will store more as fat. Just because you got through high school and college living of the McDonald’s value menu doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it forever. Learn to cook some healthy meals. Run regularly. Your body will thank you.
5. You will lose touch with people.
You may have posed with your college roommates in front of someone’s Macbook and put the “BFF” effect on the border, but that doesn’t mean you will actually be friends forever. You will lose touch with at least a few of the people you expected to be around forever. Your real, best friends will stick around but a surprising number of people will fade into the background.
6. You will work for/with people you hate.
Another great place to apply the whole patience thing we learned about a few points ago is in the workplace. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, people you don’t like will find you. They will have a terrible sense of humor or they will have no sense of humor at all. They will be mean and spiteful and vindictive. Do your best not to let them spoil you on the rest of us.
7. Your interests will change.
You will become a person that the high school version of you would have made fun of mercilessly. It is one of the most subtle and surprising things about growing up, but eventually you will find yourself watching a show about people buying a house and you will be commenting with genuine interest on the material the countertops are made of and the level of curb appeal. It is better to just embrace this. It is more fun than it sounds.
8. The world won’t slow down for you.
Another harsh truth about the world is that it moves quickly. The march of progress demands that we all pull our weight and if you can’t shake off the bad habits you picked up in school, there will be no one to make sure you keep up with the flow.
9. You will have less free time.
One of the great injustices of the world we live in is that as teenagers we have limitless amounts of time to fill with epic adventures, but no money to fund said adventures, and as adults, we have the money to do what we want but no time with which to do it. Seize the day whenever you can and don’t become a workaholic. Life is about relationships and experiences, though the world will try to make you forget that.
10. Things will get monotonous.
One of the easiest traps to fall into as an adult is routine. Obviously it is important and even enjoyable to know what lies around the next corner, but don’t let your life get too boring. You will have to make a conscious effort to seek out new things and to spice things up. Inertia is a hard thing to overcome, but it is worth it when you do. Featured photo credit: Images Money via flickr.com
