Adulthood

Also see Growing Older, Growing Up, Graduation, That's Life, and Adult Birthdays.

Page Toppers

All Grown Up
Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime
Growing Old is Mandatory; Growing Up is Optional!
Let Your Light Shine
Make the Most of Yourself
Neglect Not the Gift That is in Thee
Next Step: Real Life
Ready to Take on the world

Quotes

Adults are always asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas.
Adults are obsolete children. (Dr. Seuss)
Age is a pretty high price to pay for maturity.
Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. (Daniel Francois Esprit Auber)
Another belief of mine--that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise. (Margaret Atwood)
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say; I just watch what they do. (Andrew Carnegie)
At some point in life, every one of us, for better or for worse, sometimes kicking and screaming and being dragged by our heels, has to become an adult.
Being an adult means knowing when common sense must be applied and the few cases when it should be flouted in favor of uncommon sense.
The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself he becomes wise. (Alden Nowlan)
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. (Grace Hansen)
Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.
The good die young--because they see it's no use living if you've got to be good. (John Barrymore)
The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence. (Bruce Springsteen)
A grown-up is someone who suffers from responsibility.
I don't want to adult anymore. I don't even want to human. I want to goat. Jump around randomly, eat what I want, and head-butt anyone who annoys me.
I'm not young enough to know everything. (Sir James M. Barrie)
I've put a lot of thought and effort into it for a number years and I just don't think being an adult is gonna work for me.
If growing up is the process of creating ideas and dreams about what life should be, then maturity is letting go again. (Mary Beth Danielson)
If you want a place in the sun, you'll have to leave the shade of the family tree.
It doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you know where you're going.
It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.
No one is ever old enough to know better. (Holbrook Jackson)
Only adults have difficulty with childproof caps.
People never grow up; they just learn how to act in public.
That horrifying moment when you're looking around for an adult, but you realize you are an adult. So you look around for an older adult. An adulter adult. Someone better at adulting than you.
There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those.
We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice--that is, until we have stopped saying "It got lost," and say, "I lost it." (Sydney J. Harris)
Why do they rate a movie "R" for "adult language?" The only people I hear using that language are teenagers. (Note: This is an old quote and unfortunately no longer applies to lot of people.)
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. (Tom Wilson)
You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.
You become an adult the day you realize you have the right to be wrong.
You grow up the day you have your first real laugh, at yourself. (Ethel Barrymore)
You only live once--but if you work it right, once is enough. (Joe E. Lewis)

Real Life

(Fr. Alfred D'Souza)

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way.
Something to be got through first, some unfinished business,
time still to be served, a debt to be paid.
Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

Coming of Age

(Anais Nin)

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically.
We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly.
We grow partially. We are relative.
We are mature in one realm, childish in another.
The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward,
or fix us in the present.
We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.

Signs You've Grown Up

Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
6:00 a.m. is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
You watch the Weather Channel.
Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as 'dressed up'.
You're the one calling the police because the kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.
Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
You no longer take naps from noon to 6 p.m.
Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 a.m. would upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
A four dollar bottle of wine is no longer 'pretty good stuff'.
You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
You tune into the easy listening station...on purpose.
Ninety percent of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
You no longer drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you.

What Life is About

Life isn't about keeping score.
It's not about how many friends you have
Or how accepted you are.
Not about if you have plans this weekend or if you're alone.

It isn't about who you're dating, who you used to date,
how many people you've dated,
or if you haven't dated anyone at all.

It isn't about who you have kissed,
It isn't about who your family is
or how much money they have
Or what kind of car you drive.
Or where you went to school.

It's not about how beautiful or ugly you are.
Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on,
Or what kind of music you listen to.

It's not about if your hair is blond, red, black, or brown,
Or if your skin is light or dark.
Not about what grades you get, how smart you are,
how smart everybody else thinks you are,
or how smart standardized tests say you are.

It's not about what clubs you're in
or how good you are at sports.

It's not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper
and seeing who will accept 'the written you'.

Life just isn't.

Life is about who you love and who you hurt.
It's about who you make happy or unhappy purposely.
It's about keeping or betraying trust.
It's about friendship, used as a sanctity or as a weapon.

It's about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening.
It's about starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip.
It's about what judgments you pass and why.
And who your judgments are spread to.

It's about who you've ignored with full control and intention.
It's about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.
It's about carrying inner hate and love,
letting it grow and spreading it.

But most of all, it's about using your life
to touch or poison other people's hearts
in such a way that could have never occurred alone.

Only you choose the way those hearts are affected,
and those choices are what life's all about.

Songs about Growing Up

All Grown Up - The Crystals (1964)
Almost Grown - Chuck Berry (1959)
Come Back When You Grow Up - The Strangers (1967)
Daddies Need to Grow up, Too - The O'Kanes (1987)
Everybody's Gotta Grow up Sometime - Sons of the Desert (2000)
Grow Old with Me - Mary Chapin Carpenter (1999)
Growin' up Too Fast - Diane Renay (1964)
Growing Up - Dan Hill (1975)
Growing Up with You - Johnny Cymbal (1963)
Grown Men Don't Cry - Tim McGraw (2001)
Grown-up Children - Orleans (1986)
Grown-Up Games - Damita Jo (1968)
Too Old to Grow Up Now - Pake McEntire (1987)
When I Grow Up - Clint Daniels (1998)
When I Grow up to Be a Man - The Beach Boys (1964)