Being a responsible adult in this world

[CinPunk]

Pretty straightforward post, I would say (lol) but yeah. Being an adult is difficult and no school can prepare you for work, relationships,  life.

There's something you want to say to younger people? or peers?
Because what I can say is: nothing goes your own way, you have to work your way throught, sometimes, even biting if necessary. Even if you have friends, your life is yours, following blindly someone is the worst you can do to yourself. Mental health is really hard to get over, or accepting yourself as you are, is not as easy as it seems. Whatever you do, DO NOT LOSE YOURSELF, lose your interests, lose your inner "You", even if it's cringe, weird, unconventional, whatever it is. Losing yourself is one of the worst things ever, I can guarantee from experience.

[Seryndelle]

Whatever you do, DO NOT LOSE YOURSELF, lose your interests, lose your inner "You", even if it's cringe, weird, unconventional, whatever it is.

I second this!

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." —Aldous Huxley (with a bonus music video thrown in there as a treat)

I would also add a little point of reassurance: I still feel the same at 25 as I did at 15 (although I think that's maybe because I felt like a 25-year-old already by that point) All this to say, while it's incredibly important to keep that spark that makes you you, there's probably less risk of losing it than you might think. I mean, for a start, you've managed to find your way to this side of the internet, so you've clearly got a very strong sense of your own personal style already. This forum is pretty dang far from the mainstream!

Also, for the love of all that is holy, get a calendar app and use it. I wouldn't be able to function without mine. That's probably the most "adulty" advice I can give

[Paprika]

Don't give so much importance at what other people think about you. Be careful about posting stuff on Discord/TikTok/etc that could be misinterpreted or taken out of context. DOn't worry too much about everything, your brain is not made to endure all the world's problems on the backburner of your mind.

Most of adulting (at least for me) is fake it til you make it. No one can be perfectly prepared for everything, trust yourself, go on, do it. No one's a master at everything so maybe you'll find yourself doing something much better than you expected because yu just gave a shot at it.

List your meals, make batch cooking and use glass jars (such as fruit compote) to store it for you week. Put fancy stickers or label on the glass to know what or when you will eat it. Don't buy if someone is pressuring you to do so, most of the time it's a ploy to make you waste money. Think twice before buying.

Try to think about something before buying it. Will you use it ? How much will you use it ? Is it absolutely necessary ? Can't you make the result yourself with something you already have ?

Chores can be a hassle, try to make it with music or dancing tunes. Open your windows from time to time, fresh air can make you really feel good. Don't let a slight problem stay like it is forever because it might get worse and fixing it will be more expensive or difficult.

Try to save money, even if it's one small bill or a couple coins, keep them in a jar for tough times or emergency.

Don't buy tools for a single use or if you"re not 100% sure you'll use it over a long time span. Talk to your neighbors, ask them to help or loan tools. Offer to pay back with cooking (you'd be surprised about the amount of people more interested by a fresh batch of homemade cookies over a 20$ bill...)

That's all from the top of my head for now, I'll add later if I think more of it.

[Memory]

these are all really interesting actually! i loved reading though all these

i'm still a legal minor but i'm graduating high school in like just a few months - weirdly enough i've felt being in the real world i've kinda felt i've lost a bit of childlike-wonder but eh
signed up for Mastodon a few days ago and pestering my Discord friends again and weirdly felt it come back a little like - i guess negativity and crap kinda makes me feel more stubborn and things. maybe it's just cuz everyone around me in the real world is stubborn and conservative maybe but idk.

still feeling unsure about the world tho -- how hard is it to get out of a nasty environment and things? mine's a shithole and i just wanna move out soo fucking badly to a better state entirely. whatever.
also how different can work feel to school and etc?
okay i've never had a job ever and kinda feel jealous of all my classmates with jobs .P.

[invader_gvim]

It's one million and a half times better to be poor and desperate than it is to be beholden to help from someone who hates you, condescends to you, and tries to control you. If you feel like a person is helping you for bad reasons, do not accept their help.

If you feel like moving out of your backward and depressed area, gtfo quick. Don't feel tied down to some region because of legacy, tradition, or anything else that ultimately doesn't matter nearly as much as you, your love, and your ownness. Hang on to your ego.

Jump into love, but not lust. Don't be selfish towards your partner, and make sure that you view yourself and theirself as one self. In that vain, don't go looking for love. Let friendship drift into something closer, until you find yourself asking them out when really you've already been dating for a year. Do this, and you will find your soulmate without having to worry about getting screwed over. View your friends as brothers and sisters. Ask yourself if your biological brothers and sisters are worthy enough to call themselves your friends.

Be strong, fierce, and unashamed. To be cringe is to be bold. Be

AMAZING.

Above all else, never quit a job unless you already have a new job. Always pay your bills before doing what you want. Only ask people for financial help when you are certain you can't do without it. Ask people for nonfinacial help at every oppurtunity. They will be grateful for the ability to prove their love to you, but make sure that you are equally willing to help them as you want them to be towards you. Volunteer to help them before they ask.

[KatiePla.net]

As a 24 year old who is starting to figure out HOW to figure out how to be an adult....

Here's my advice:

• Your time is important! How you spend your time is how you live your life, and learning to manage your time is the single greatest asset to living the life you want to live. We live in an age where distraction is everywhere, and for me this is temptation is magnified significantly by ADHD. This in combination with work and life responsibilities can leave you feeling like you have little time to be yourself - but fear not! It IS possible to change your life to be more in-line with your goals, but it takes some restructuring and self discipline to create that for yourself. The harsh reality of life is we can't do everything and we don't have infinite time, but once we accept that truth, we can find liberation in making choices and decisions for ourselves on what we DO want to make time for. My free time is my most sacred time in life, and I've learned that the more "active" I am in choosing what I do, the happier I feel in my day to day life. The harsh reality is that if I want to be an artist, I have to say "no" to reddit binging afternoons and use that time for drawing. If I want time to make my website, I have to say "no" to MMO grinding. And hey - nothing is wrong with those things either! If you wanna scroll reddit or grind MMO exp, more power to you! What matters most is that the choices you make, the things you spend your time on, are decisions you make ACTIVELY and not passively, and is something you truly feel good spending time on. If you can look back on your day and feel proud of how it was spent, then you know you're living the best life you can.
• Time isnt money, but money is time - so use it wisely. I do not like the phrase "Time is money" as it implies that the purpose of time is monetary value rather than an inherent free aspect of being alive, but even accepting this the reverse of the phrase still has merit. But unless you are in an incredibly privileged state, you have to work to receive your income, a real exchange of your time for money. Therefore, since your income is a direct result of exchanging your time, you must always respect your money like you'd respect your hard work and labor. I know it's old advice, but it really is great advice to protect yourself against exploitative time/resource trades: Asking yourself, "Is this item worth X hours of my labor?" when you look at the price of an object compared to your hourly wage. Of course not everything we buy is worth the time, sometimes we are forced to pay for things we don't want to. But for the things we DO have choice in - let them be wise choices. Savings and frugal living has brought me more joy, opportunity, and peace than any impulse purchase or unnecessary luxury ever has. Check this out at your library (don't buy it lol) - "The Art of Frugal Hedonism"
• Respect your body like you'll live in it forever! This is another one that people have told me all throughout my young adulthood, and I hate to accept that they were right. I personally know two 24 year olds who take weeks to recover from simple coughs because of their damaged lungs from smoking and vaping. I know young alcoholics and I've seen close friends suffering from back pain from a life of poor posture and muscle strength. I personally am starting to experience minor vision damage from too much screen time, and I'm only 24 years old. I'm not saying this to scare anyone but instead to shed light on the truth: How you treat your body WILL one day catch up to you, and you have to be ready to pay the price. But once again, there is hope! No matter what you did in the past, you have the power to stop bad habits in their tracks and instead cultivate better habits for yourself - you don't have to keep making a bad habit worse all because you think you're already "doomed"! The best time to plant a tree was yesterday, but the second best time is today. Really think about your diet, your physical health, and your mental health and ask yourself id this is the kind of home you want your spirit to live in.

There's my three biggest lessons I've learned in life so far! I'm only 24, so I know I still have a long way to go, but working on these three lessons has vastly improved the quality of my life. Of course, its one thing to UNDERSTAND this advice, but its an entirely different challenge to actually live them. But that leads me to my final tip:

Give yourself some grace. It isn't easy being an adult, and you're never ever going to get it right. If there's one dream worth giving up in life, its perfection. This wisdom isn't meant to discourage you, it's meant to free you. Sometimes you're gonna mess up; spend $400 on a purse that when it arrives it's... well, in hindsight its not worth 3 days worth of labor, that's for sure. And sometimes you're gonna get sad about a bad interview and eat nothing but whole sleeve of pringles and a Bang energy for dinner. What matters most is that you give yourself grace. Forgiveness when you fail and the humbleness to learn from your mistakes when you make them. Honestly? Life is only bearable when you take it as it is - a LOT of life lessons, most of which are gonna be learned from failure. We're all doing our best, and trust me, the best part is that we're ALL failing. So don't beat yourself up too hard when you slip up, okay? More people understand than the world likes to show.