Coming of Age
When I turned 15, my parents threw me a Quinceanera
celebration. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is the
celebration of a girl’s fifteenth birthday, which is celebrated in the Latino
community. This birthday is symbolic of the transition of childhood to
young womanhood. There is the ultima muneca “the last doll”, which
signifies that a girl is no longer in need of such a toy, the father/daughter
dance which highlights the importance of the father as the first man in a
girl’s life, etc. The celebration of the transition was great and I’ll
cherish those moments forever, but it got me thinking - could we have a such
thing as a “Treinta” (30th birthday celebration). I almost
feel as though that is the age where you finally feel like you are no longer
immature, but finally an adult. (That or maybe I am just a late
bloomer.)
I was in the car the other day with my husband and the new
Foster the People song came on, “Coming of Age”. I had listened to this
song plenty of times before, but on this day the words were loud as thunder, “I
feel like I’m finally coming of age.” Wait, what? Coming of
Age. What does that really mean?
Merriam-Webster: the attainment (the action or fact of
achieving a goal toward which one has worked) of prominence (the state of being
important), respectability (the state or quality of being proper, correct and
socially acceptable), recognition or maturity (fully developed, full grown)
Wikipedia: Is a young person’s transition from childhood to
adulthood.
I went and googled the lyrics and while I couldn’t relate to
all the words, I connected with the chorus, “I feel like I’m finally coming of
age.” Yes, that’s how I feel. I really feel like I’m coming of age.
I’m concerned about how much percentage I have on my 401K, I’m concerned
about saving and being better at my finances, I’m concerned about my health, my
faith, my family, my children. I’m in love with Home Depot and I’m
devoted to spending 4 grand on my house than taking a vacation.
I’m…..(gasp) a grown up.
Now, I don’t believe that you have to be obsessed over what
I mentioned for you to be a grown up, but good gosh, I feel like I finally get
it. All the things my parents told me, I really get it now. Even
when I was first married and had Mia, I still didn’t feel like an adult.
I made bad choices and didn’t have a financial plan in place. I
lived in the moment rather than thinking long term. I know I touched
briefly into this topic in my 30th post, but I seriously feel after
I turned 30, it went into full effect. And while I feel this way, I don’t
feel old. I still feel young, I just feel like I’m a matured young
person. Just as the Hannah Montana song says, “You get the best of
both worlds, mix it all together and you know that it’s the best of both worlds.”
Tell me, when did you realize you were finally an adult?
Coming of Age for me was having a budget log created for me 4 years ago. Was having trouble budgeting my money. A good friend of mine who is a financial guru told me what I needed. She made me a budget log. Last year she updated it for me and once again, she just simply amazed me! I see myself more proactive in my mother's health as well these past 2 years. Making sure that shes healthy....
ReplyDeleteI'm on a budget too, which I am going to blog about soon enough. Fellowship has had those financial classes and they are helping.
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