Graduation is quickly approaching and already in the air are statements like “Dad… I’m 18! I’m an adult now! I can make my own decisions!”
Just like every other guy at the cusp of adulthood, I also said these words more often then I care to admit, but looking back on my life now that I am a few years down the road, I can see that while the statement was absolutely true! I was in fact an adult, what I lacked was the life experience that comes with adulthood!
Can you make it on your own?
Absolutely you can make it on your own, many people have, the problem is not in the ability to achieve the goal, the problem is in the how of accomplishing the goal! At 18, the ability lies within you, but the journey is potentially much more difficult because you lack the life experience that goes along with the choices that you are faced with day to day. When your parents are saying “You” are not ready to be on your own, or they are still trying to “tell you what to do”. It is because they have been down the road already and have probably fallen in a few pit holes along the way!
Being an adult is more than physically turning 18, it’s about making decisions and living with the consequences!
Time after time when I am talking with a guy, they are already well past the point in the situation where the consequences of their actions are starting to unfold. Then they begin to understand that all choices have consequences, some are positive and some are negative.
It’s great to say, I am an adult and if I choose to have sex, that’s up to me! While again, that statement is true, it is up to you, the consequences of living a promiscuous (having more than one sexual partner) life are long lasting. Just ask the guy who is living with some STD, or the 17 year old daddy who is trying to do the right thing by raising his baby after the mom bailed.
There is so much more to being an adult than just turning 18 or 21, take time to continue to learn from your parents wisdom, ask your college pastor to share some of his/her more difficult transitions into adulthood.
One of the greatest resources that I have found on the transition from being a teen, to becoming an adult is a book that I read when I was 18, the book is called “Life on the Edge” by Dr. James Dobson. If you haven’t read it, you should pick up a copy and give it a read.