The last 2 weeks I felt done with adulting.
I wanted to go back to a child, being picked up from school with my twin brother and going home to marmite sandwiches waiting for us and keeping as quiet as we could whilst our mum watched the OJ Simpson trial on tv.
When my main worry was “how will I actually get to meet Ricky Martin and what would our wedding look like?”
I wanted to go back to a child, being picked up from school with my twin brother and going home to marmite sandwiches waiting for us and keeping as quiet as we could whilst our mum watched the OJ Simpson trial on tv.
When my main worry was “how will I actually get to meet Ricky Martin and what would our wedding look like?”
Everything got on top of me. My routine has been all out of place since I came back from the Isle of Man TT. I was dealing with the grief of leaving the island, as I always do. And I had a big unexpected cat vet bill to pay (and am still waiting on test results)
Then in the series of 4 days
- The town was gridlocked and my car broke down
- A member of the family was really sick
- My parked car got hit by a bus (thank god someone witnessed it and left me a note)
- I potentially was going to let my boys down if my car wasn’t then roadworthy because we had a weekend away planned (thank goodness for having a mechanic son, my car was roadworthy and seems to just be cosmetic damage)
I also had my visit to the Butterfly House to raise money for CALM which, again, I’d put pressure on myself to do.
I really struggled to get out of the headspace and to breathe and see the good in life. Something I have taught myself to be good at but I was now failing at.
Social media and the news are full of negative stories. Politics, war, bills increasing, knife crime etc and it’s hard to not just want to grab a Time Machine and be back as a child when none of this was on our radar. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening, we were just protected from it.
We have so many things we worry about on a daily basis. Just normal adult stuff. Then other things thrown at us and sometimes that’s all we can focus on.
Today I had a free day to myself. The sun was shining and I blasted Ricky Martin songs in my car…full volume. It was glorious. And all of a sudden it hit me. Being an adult is also pretty cool.
The revelation of this was that I am seeing Ricky Martin in August when he visits the UK again. I saw him back in 2000 at Earls Court and this year will see him at Sandringham. And it felt like a real adult privilege to be able to do that. To decide to book the tickets, to be in charge of my own time.
So I wrote a list of 5 things that make being an adult pretty cool.
You don’t have to follow every trend.
It’s okay to have your own tastes. You don’t have to like the latest artist, fashion, or TV show just because everyone else does. Being yourself becomes much more acceptable—and often much more rewarding.
For example: I am not a fan of Taylor Swift. At all. And that’s completely ok. However, if I was younger it would probably be a big deal when she has such a massive fan base. I was bullied at school for liking Hanson so have experience of how harsh things can be if you don't follow what everyone else does. I was once picked on for wearing an Adidas tracksuit to the school disco instead of a girly outfit. Adidas tracksuits were "in" yet it wasn't good enough.
It’s okay to have your own tastes. You don’t have to like the latest artist, fashion, or TV show just because everyone else does. Being yourself becomes much more acceptable—and often much more rewarding.
For example: I am not a fan of Taylor Swift. At all. And that’s completely ok. However, if I was younger it would probably be a big deal when she has such a massive fan base. I was bullied at school for liking Hanson so have experience of how harsh things can be if you don't follow what everyone else does. I was once picked on for wearing an Adidas tracksuit to the school disco instead of a girly outfit. Adidas tracksuits were "in" yet it wasn't good enough.
You can give yourself things to look forward to.
If life feels a bit flat, you can plan your own highlights. Book concert tickets, arrange a weekend away, plan days out, plan self care days. Having something on the calendar can make the weeks ahead feel more exciting.
I've always been really conscious of the fact I have to have something to look forward to and it's nice to be the one who has the power over that.
It doesn't even have to be something within the next week or month. We had tickets to see Greg Davies and had a year and 2 month wait, and tickets to see Simply Red which was an almost 2 year wait! But it was nice to have something to countdown to.
You make the household rules.
Dinner in bed, days just not getting dressed, leave the washing up for the morning, get Deliveroo to bring you your groceries rather than popping out to the shop because you really can't be bothered. You get to decide how your home works.
You can protect your peace.
One of the greatest freedoms of adulthood is choosing your boundaries. You can step away from relationships, habits, or situations that drain you and make more room for the people and things that bring you peace.
You can reinvent yourself whenever you want
Life doesn't have to stay the same, and neither do you. You can learn a new skill, change careers, start a new hobby, change your style etc. It's something I wrote about recently about identity. In the last 11 years I've reinvented myself in so many ways, so many times, and it's been wonderful and really freeing.
Life doesn't have to stay the same, and neither do you. You can learn a new skill, change careers, start a new hobby, change your style etc. It's something I wrote about recently about identity. In the last 11 years I've reinvented myself in so many ways, so many times, and it's been wonderful and really freeing.
