In life, there are certain stages one must go through to obtain ones self-identity. These stages are the carefree years of ones youth, the rebellious teenage years, and the passage from a teen into a mature, young adult. Children have the best life. They don’t have to wonder and worry. Teenagers have the rebellious, careless type of lifestyle that often gets them into trouble. Young adults look back on their childhood and on their teenage years and laugh at the wonderful memories.
In the eyes of children, there is no worry. The days are made to play, and to explore a world that is shinning like a new penny, and as magical as their imagination wants it to be. They make wonderful memories like tasting a fresh orange, and the juice dripping down his/her chin and seeing a butterfly take flight and trying to catch it to feel the soft velvet wings. Children have an uncanny ability to learn. They are full of questions. If given the opportunity to be able to ask these questions and receive the right answers, the constant learning process in children will never cease or be extinguished.
There are things one does as a child that are never forgotten. Memories that would bring a smile to the face are sometimes pushed to the back of the mind, but they are never lost. Some of these things are making mud pies, tasting of a favorite food, playing of favorite games, running after fireflies in the dark to make a makeshift flashlight, or a first outing trip to an amusement park. Children have a carefree life, full of surprises and adventures. Kids have the opportunity to be themselves, because at this stage, the pressures of adulthood have not been bestowed upon them.
Society has placed a label on the children of today’s world. They view the child as sweet and innocent, unlike their older part: the teenager.
The teenage years, also called the rebellious years, are one of the most strenuous times of a young person’s life. The thought of being told what to do can sometimes overwhelm even the most well adjusted teen. There are new things to explore, some of which may not be appropriate, or for that matter, even suitable for this time of their lives. The teen faces emotional and sometimes physical abuse that in turn lowers the self-esteem of the individual. Some teens face adulthood early by being thrown into a situation like pregnancy. Teens act differently than any other age group. They feel like they own the world and that it should revolve around them and only them.
Teens have the most stressful, complicated life of any age bracket. They must put up with the stereotype label of a lazy, rebellious generation that society has placed on them. Adults label teens by the clothes they wear and the people they hang around with. These classifications also influence the placement of teens into different categories among other teens. Due to stressful, agitated, decisions on how to be perfect and popular, teens need a way to get away from it all.
While others may find refuge in sports, music, or religious associations, drugs and alcohol become a key factor in the lives of the other teens. When in teenage years, the individual may not feel like this is the best time of his/her life. Once adulthood is reached, they will realize that the major stresses of the teenage years are just minor problems compared to the situations adults face.
The next group of people, the adults, have new situations to face. They must choose a career. This means they need to decide whether to school to get a degree or enter the work force right out of school. Sometimes life makes those choices easier for them by supplying key factors like money and accompaniment, which every adult needs. Adults often face the stressful problems that teens face also. Drugs, alcohol, and pregnancy plague the lives of many adults today. The stress of losing a job or not being able to find one can drive an adult to using drugs or drinking alcohol. The idea of starting a family may scare many adults. They worry about not having the money to care and provide for their children. They often wonder if the child is making the right decisions, and often try to decide for them. Finding time for work and finding the time to be with a spouse are some of the stressful problems adults face today.
Dealing with stressful bosses at work, household chores, automotive repairs, and their financial situations complicate the adult life even further.
From the action packed, bright childhood of a youngster, to the slow, gray life of a senior adult, one is preparing oneself for the real world. As children, one cannot wait to grow up into a teenager. As teens, one wonders what happened to the carefree days of his/her youth and anticipates what lies ahead.
As adults one often looks back at the best years of their lives. They wish they could go back to those days and relive it all over again, but as mature adults, they know it is not possible. All they can do is talk about the past and try to teach younger generations from their experiences.
