I'm a Big Kid Now

Haha. Please tell me the Pampers jingle popped into your head when you read that title...it certainly did for me when I thought of it! But this post has nothing to do with diapers or commercial jingles so I will move on.

There are a lot of “events” people attribute to becoming an adult: buying a house, getting a Mon-Fri 9-5 job, paying all your own bills, consistently going to bed before 11pm (okay, that was a joke) and most would agree turning a certain age does not mean anything. You get the idea. But what really constitutes being an adult? In the above examples, all I see is financial independence. I guess what got me thinking about this was a discussion my house was having last night. Being only the 3^rd group of RdC volunteers in Monte Sinai and the first with retreat groups, we've had to be the pioneers in a lot of things, including policies. Last night, we were trying to determine how (and if) to open up the retreat house for community use. As the discussion bore on, I realized something: we were making a decision for others. True, we have 3+ months left and we could have been forming a policy for that time, but instead we were talking about and advocating for future year-long volunteers and the Mt. Sinai community. One might say, “Well this is a very long term thing, and you aren't staying, so of course you would think of others” and I would agree. But this conversation was only the light bulb for me. Looking back over the last 8 months, they are filled with decisions and discussions based on the impact on others, from people within our house to the greater community, retreat groups to individuals. This program and this year is so infused with an intentionality and focus on community (the greater good) that you are encouraged (if not forced ;-P) to grow up.

Last year, by the initial definition, I was living as an adult. I had a job. I paid rent and bills on a house and often went to bed early. All of this while attending college full-time, which I also paid for myself. The thing is, as a senior in college, everything I did, all the decisions I made, were for me. Now, as I live in Ecuador, in someone else's house that I don't pay for, where I do not have a paying job and therefore cannot pay for anything else (U.S. equivalent =living with and being supported by Mom and Dad with no job), I am closer to being an adult now than I could have dreamed of last June.

I don't think being an adult has anything to do with finances (except maybe managing them) but instead becoming accountable for your life and your decisions: responsibility, impact awareness, selflessness, and striving to create a better life for your fellow human beings. Don't rush into it; it's not for everyone at anytime and being a kid is healthy, for awhile. But maybe you've been fooling yourself with your 5-6 figure pay check, nice house and car that you've been living an adult life. If that is the case, I challenge you to step up and into something more because I can tell you there are children (in age), who I encounter every day, burdened with early adulthood, who could teach you a thing or two.