If I had to describe the average human, I would say we are like sponges, especially given how our experiences shape so much of our identity.
When people are young, they are carefree, innocent, easily offended, and easily forgives.
Kids enjoy sugar, playing in the dirt, and are unconcerned about being smelly and crying for short periods of time while remaining happy for longer. These attitudes will quickly fade as they enter adolescence and eventually become adults.
Adult & Kids comparison
Adults are, in some ways, the polar opposite of children. Adults (except the careless ones) prefer to spend their free time working to earn money, using their phones, and worrying about bills, responsibilities, and the future.
An adult is a compartmentalized version of a child, and the irony is that children want to grow up as quickly as possible, whereas adults want to return to a time when they do not have to pay bills and someone else is responsible for their care.
A teenager is somewhere in between.
Teenagers are in the experimental phase of life, and they prefer to spend their time outside.
They do not want to be controlled by their parents and want to experience the freedom of living alone.
However, they quickly realize that there is nothing fun about wanting to be outside all the time; they soon realize that freedom comes with responsibilities, and this knowledge can only be gained through the lessons they have learned as they have grown into adults.
The typical responsible adult is constantly alert, worried, weary, concerned, and stressed, and is always wary of the consequences. Notice how I mentioned "responsible"?
That is because people who are not responsible adults do not care about it; they do not want to take control, they do not want to deal with the stress of life, and this is always the first big mistake that some adults make: they take their foot off the gas, and the consequences are a lifelong lesson they have to live with.
Paying bills is one of the most important aspects of adulthood.
It's never fun, but it's inevitable
...especially with others (immediate nuclear family members). However, this is not an anti-adult agenda; rather, it is a fascinating concept about how people can easily transition from being blank slates to becoming different people.
It is similar to how a character evolves in season one into a different character. The stages of change are often referred to as character development. These people become different as a result of their experiences, as if they have shed skins.
In some television shows, these characters are given cosmetic changes, such as beards or going bald, to demonstrate that they have undergone time-telling transformations.
Character development
In reality, people undergo transformations without having to go to the gym, grow a beard, or go bald. Adults' internal transformations can be more powerful than we realize.
A lot of us wish we could be kids again, even if it does not mean we go back to being stupid. Most of the time, wanting to be kids again means going back in time and enjoying the bliss of being free, correcting past mistakes, and turning back the hands of time.
However, these are for those who had a blissful childhood; regardless, life was far better, externally, back then, and it felt like people in the 1980s experienced the unadulterated bliss of life, despite their technological limitations.
Money is always the game-changer
One of the changes in our adult lives occurs when we start paying bills.
Paying bills requires us to make money before we can pay, and the process of making money completely transforms us. People's attitudes can change as they try to make money, and these changes were not always present. What we do to make money has a significant impact on us.
The hustle of life can transform us into people we never expected, which can be sad. We can lose friends because of money, people we used to know, the relationships we built, and the life we once lived.
People no longer want to associate with others; working nonstop or looking for greener pastures can transform people into unexpected versions of themselves. I still believe that we are all sponges, meant to absorb; we are all like blank slates, and we usually start off on a positive note.
Interested in some more of my posts