GROWING UP

“The scary news is YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN NOW but the cool news is YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN NOW” – Taylor Swift

Nobody warned us that becoming adults would be so difficult for each of us.

Hi there, lovely people! I'm @stoicdeath, and the topic of today's blog is the unsettling aspect of being independent.

Do you still remember that day when you had to go alone down Cebu's busiest street? The day you had to submit your college application, you were filled with dread and fear about what life lay ahead.

I had to travel to Cebu City today to apply to colleges. I've never been here alone before; I'm unfamiliar with the streets and the crowd in general. I'm lost—not in the crowds of people or on the roads—in my thoughts and worries.

The fear that crept into my mind with all the uncertainties I would unravel made me doubt. When we are young, we think growing up is a nice idea. The thought of going to places without fear of getting yelled at when we get home is what makes us want to grow up fast. But now, in our early adulthood, it has opened our eyes to the fact that growing up is not a walk in the park or by the beach.

**WHAT GROWING UP FEELS LIKE **

Growing up involves hiding our various emotions from others. It is about staying strong on the outside but grasping air to breathe on the outside. No one warned us that this stage of our lives would be like walking on a thin rope, trying to balance all the heavy loads that we carry.

Starting college and leaving the nostalgia behind is a scary thing, I once thought that when I finally left high school I would be full of hope and could finally start building the dream I always talked about. But no, this phase is when you start to worry about life more. The going back-and-forth questions in your mind “Am I taking the right course or am I even on the right path” will surely circle back in your mind and somehow it won’t stop for quite a while.

Despite all the doubts I still had to submit my application to universities. I have to familiarize the streets and corners of Cebu for this will be the path I’ll be living for quite a while.

SHELVED DREAM

Growing up is having to accept that there are various reasons why we must let go of our dreams and pursue the course we never thought we’d take. One of the reasons why we pick that certain course is for survival. We have to let go of some dreams to open new doors.

In a manner that others might not understand, losing a dream can be like a hot knife to the heart. Emotional breakdowns and insomnia from unsolved problems are common outcomes. The excruciating agony may even become unbearable to us, and we may find ourselves begging for it to stop.

Nevertheless, the sun continues to rise each day, and we must move forward, leaving the anguish of the night behind. This is part of growing up where no one warned us, but if someone did, we couldn’t still avoid it. We have to live through this certain phase, which will help us see what tomorrow will bring.

Now that we are adults we long to relive to our childhood days when all we think of is how we could go out and play with friends without going to sleep in the afternoon. The laugh we had back then was pure and genuine and we never had to worry about what might happen tomorrow. Time flies so fast we are now on a different chapter of our life with a lot of things to unfold.

To all the early adults who are going through the same thing may we never lose hope, things may be hard right now and it was so brave of you to be here today. Just like the moon, we all go through different phases for us to feel whole again.

May we find goodness in every season. When did we grow up so fast?