I feel like much of the time, kids and teenagers are so anxious to grow up and do all of the things adults do as soon as possible. Yet so many teenagers and adults look back on the time when they were young with longing. I am able to understand both sides, but I am the happiest with where I am right now.

Many kids I’ve known have yearned for the freedoms of being an adult, seeing the way adults are able to do whatever they want without restrictions like the ones placed on kids. They wish that they too didn’t have anyone who told them what they could and couldn’t do. They wish that they were trusted and given responsibility the way adults are.

Adults, on the other hand, wish that they could have the carefree lives free of responsibility that kids have. They wish they could be as innocent and untainted as they were as kids.

Yet neither group (in general) seems to appreciate having the things that the other longs for. Much of the time, adults wish they could free themselves of their responsibility, but kids want to have the responsibility that adults are tired of more than anything.

This idea can be applied to many things between kids and adults. It leads me to the conclusion that, as a person grows up, they should enjoy and make the most out of the stage of life that they are at, because someday, in the past or the future, they will want or will have wanted to have some aspect of wherever they currently are in life.

However, when I say this I don’t mean that people should resist growing up, staying immature and carefree as long as possible, or that people should solely do things representative of their age without preparing for the future.

Instead, I think that people should control the things that they can in their lives and try to find things to be appreciative of in the other areas.

Teenagers are an interesting medium between adults and kids in the sense that they share aspects of both. When kids become teenagers, they are trusted enough and given enough freedom to begin making their own decisions, but they still rely on their parents and are not fully independent yet.

It seems to me that this is part of the time in a person’s life that they choose how the rest of their life will be shaped. But many (though not all) teenagers seem to immediately strip themselves of their childhood qualities in order to do the opposite and exercise their new independence as rising adults.

I feel that while some qualities are good to move on from, many are important.

While it is good for people to grow up, mature, and learn from mistakes, just because someone is older doesn’t mean that they have to do what everyone else their age seems to be doing.

Overall, I would suggest that people control the things they can in their lives and find things to be appreciative of in the others.