Growing Up.

Maturity and the general evolution of people from child to adult is both difficult and fascinating. At 20 I'm at that age where things seem to be getting a little more continuous and stable, and at the same time more hectic and unpredictable. That contradiction when written down doesn't really make much sense but think about it, the frustration and confusion of adolescence begins to calm down, while the excitement and relative freedom of what the future holds begins to take place. It's time to look at the unknown with a greater perspective.

As children, we're innocent, crazy, energetic and naive and although the truth is otherwise, that childishness nature seems to go by so quickly. In its place is a strange, identity defining era of a persons life that is full of everything the world has to offer. As a kid that didn't exactly grow up with the easiest of circumstances that period of adolescence was particularly memorable for me; both positively and negatively, but I think whoever you are the same things apply. Whatever happens and wherever you live,that transition shouldn't be looked on with too much regret, or too easily forgotten, because it's not all bad, a lot of it is incredible. You're meeting some of your greatest and closest friends, you're discovering things you never knew existed, you're finding out who you are, and what you like, what you want to be. Contrary to popular belief as well, it's in my opinion that this period of your life is where you have the time to make mistakes and the time to be hurt, and pick yourself up from it. Friends come and go, but it's not the end of the world because you've still got the rest of your life to either find better friends, or rekindle that friendship at a later time.

Everything seems so incredibly condensed looking back on the past 10 years of my life, and it truly is absolutely bemusing to understand how much happens in what feels like such a short time. It was a very difficult time of my life yet similarly it was a time of intense hilarity and inspiration. That's the main thing I guess I'm trying to get to in this post. Growing up is difficult, and losing people is tricky, but in the end no matter what you do it's inspirational and influential in later life. So, if you're reading this and you're going through that transition still, let it happen, don't try to stop it and realise that every fall down is really a benefit in the long run. Likewise, if you're my age or older for that matter, even if it doesn't feel like it, there is something, anything about yourself that is amazing. That thing, no doubt, will have come from a long time of changing, discovering, hurting and healing.

So don't be sad it happened; celebrate how it shaped you.