Becoming an adult

As silly of a resolution as it may seem to want to become an adult, it's on my list.

So what constitutes being an adult. And I'm pretty sure I've written about this before, but here's another go.

 At first, I thought being an adult meant, being on your own, completely on your own. No parents there to bail you out, no living on your buddy's couch to make it to the next month, and having the funds to make ends meet.

Then I thought being an adult meant having a full time job because having a full time job meant that you had lots of money coming into your pockets. You could then make more friends through work and full time means benefits! And benefits are something adults have so that they can provide health care for their family.

With a full time job, many times you get paid time off. Well of course this makes you an adult because you can take your PTO and go on vacation...and get paid to be on vacation. And if you work for a company like the one I work for, you also get some pretty sweet deals when you travel. So of course, having PTO makes you an adult because there are so many perks!

And then I thought being an adult means you have all this power to do things. Power to get better jobs, to make better decisions. The power to remember to throw away the rotting milk in the fridge and the power to remember to pay your bills on time with all that money that you've made through that full time job.

Being an adult means responsibility. Financial responsibility, responsibility for my well-being, responsibility to myself. So, working on the financial and as for the other stuff....I have a problem. When things get a little tough, I get scared and I run. So now, now I have a responsibility to myself to tough it out. Things got a little tough these past few months and I got scared and in this moment I want to run. I've started looking at new schools on the East Coast and even in the South, so I can knock off a few more states off the list.

But, in order for me to be more financially responsibility, there shall be no running for four months. So we're toughing it out. This will make me a better person. And who knows, maybe things will get better and Portland will start to grow on me again.

Tip for the Day: Getting close to a state of permanence is scary as a friend has just reminded me. Flexibility helps with finding our way. But flexibility does not mean running. So stop running for a little bit.