Adulthood Is Sneaking Up On Her.

 

There’s this girl.

This very sweet girl.

She’s standing at the edge of a new age this year, and if you ask her honestly, she’ll tell you she’s not ready for it.

Not even a little.

Adulthood seems to be sneaking up on her quietly, and she’s not sure when it started happening.

One moment she was just living life, going to school, figuring things out slowly.

The next moment, life started whispering words like responsibility, decisions, and the future.

And somehow those words feel bigger than she expected.

The funny thing is, she keeps watching her little sister grow up right before her eyes.

The last born.

She remembers when that girl was just a baby.

She remembers feeding her, carrying her, helping her with little things.

Back then, she was the one taking care of her.

But now things feel a little different.

Now that same little sister is the one telling her,

“Don’t forget to take your medication.”

And every time it happens, she pauses for a moment and thinks,

When did this girl grow up?

Because it feels like it happened overnight.

And then another thought quietly follows.

If her little sister is growing up…

then she must be growing up too.

No one is putting pressure on her.

No one is standing over her asking what she plans to do with her life.

But somehow the pressure is still there.

And if she’s being honest, it’s coming from her.

It’s the quiet pressure to be responsible.

The pressure to start building a life that makes sense.

To make decisions that lead somewhere.

Some days she wishes adulthood came with instructions.

Something simple that says,

“Step one: do this.

Step two: do that.

Step three: everything will make sense.”

But life doesn’t work that way.

So she’s just figuring it out slowly.

One day at a time.

Because at the end of the day, she’s still just that girl.

That very sweet girl.

Walking carefully into early adulthood.

And even though she doesn’t have everything figured out yet…

she really hopes she will.