Young Adulthood Development

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One thing I have learned, especially from the article on how adulthood happens, is that our generation (Generation X) is known for its insecurities, infidelities, narcissistic traits, and pessimism (Brooks, 2016). People consider our generation the most self-indulgent, entitled generation of them all. But honestly, who raised us that way? I’m not saying by any means that it’s 100% our parents’ fault for how we’ve turned out, but it cannot all be on us. My mother, fortunately, raised me right and I’ve never experienced narcissism (even though my father is a narcissist anyways) or thought I was entitled to something “just because.” I work customer service at my job and deal with these kinds of people everyday: the ones who get upset and stomp their feet when they don’t get what they want, or get angry and want to talk to a manager whenever they’re told “No.” I look at these people and feel doomed and feel sorry for our generation because I think, “Is this the kind of generation I’ll have to grow up with for the rest of my life?” It’s almost sad to think about how I’ll have to continue living with, residing with, communicating with, and maybe even marrying someone like this. That thought just fills me with dread and disappointment. As a community, we need to come together and stop this self-entitled nonsense, letting our generation work hard for what they want and not have it just given to them.

The best thing about young adulthood, for me at least, is the dating aspect. I’m not talking about sleeping around or hooking up like most college kids are into, but the actual going out on a date, holding the door open for a girl, getting dressed up nice. I love the feeling of being loved. As I’ve gotten older, even by just a year or two, I’ve come to realize that I won’t just settle for anyone anymore. This I one instance where I do feel entitled. I do deserve to be loved 100% of the time by someone who adores me. College makes it easy to break out of your shell and hang out with people you normally would not hang out with, which opens new doors for love. I always met my boyfriends on dating websites or Facebook, which is not the place to be looking for love. After having no luck whatsoever, I stopped looking and let love find me. That’s the problem with our generation: we want immediate gratification and are too impatient to just sit tight and wait for something or someone to come to us.

As children, we cannot wait to grow up and become adults. As adults we wish, sometimes, that we could go back to being a little kid. Young adulthood is a wonderful and special time in one’s life where we fid out who we really are, what we really want in life, and what we really care about. Young adulthood is so complicating sometimes, so confusing sometimes, but rewarding all the time.