8 April 2018

Fears for the future as a twenty-something

Fears for the future as a twenty-something not fully ready for adult life

Thinking about the future is absolutely bloody terrifying. It falls into that 'fear of the unknown' category that has me scared of the sea (who knows what nasty creatures are swimming beneath you) and the dark (because if you run up the stairs as soon as you turn the lights off there's no way any monsters/intruders can get you). It's something that we can't control, and that makes it pretty horrifying tbh.

I feel as though there's a massive pressure in your early 20s to have everything figured out. Your life plan is meant to be in order, your savings are meant to be in existence (lol) and you're supposed to be having the best time of your life whilst being on top of this whole adulting thing and knowing exactly what you're doing. In reality, you still half consider yourself a student, renting is absolutely the only way forward for the foreseeable future and most of the time you're half buried in dirty washing. 

Fears for the future as a twenty-something not fully ready for adult life

At the moment everything seems a bit scary. We're moving house and inevitably have had to tell everyone that asks that 'we're only renting still' because like hell do we have savings for a house deposit. But it's forced us to think about when we would be able to buy a house, and how that solidifies our relationship basically for ever and how we're going to even get the savings to do that. 

I've got a little 'savings' jar in my bullet journal, and at the moment it's empty because I still owe people money, and I don't even know when it's ever going to start filling up. I live paycheck to paycheck, and whilst I'm happy with this because I'm paying off money I owe and I'm learning to drive, I also have nothing there in case anything bad happens. 

I'm scared of failing my driving test and scared of passing it because I'll have to go out in the world as a fully fledged driver. I'm scared because I'll have to find the money to get insured on my boyfriend's car and I'm scared I'll forget everything in the meantime. I'm scared about my first time on a motorway and my first time in a multi-storey car park.

I'm scared about the prospect of having children, or not having children. I'm scared about the idea of pregnancy, and what it would mean to raise children in our modern world.

I'm scared about global warming, and all the different ways we're ruining our planet. I'm scared that people won't see that we're doing things wrong until it's too late.

I'm scared that I'll never be truly financially stable. I'm scared that I'll never be that person with an amazing job, their own house and a full savings jar in their bullet journal.

I'm scared of getting older, and the loss that comes with it. I'm scared of losing friends and family and pets, and not knowing when the last time I see them might be.

I'm scared that I'll never be truly 'well' and at peace with myself. That I'll be on antidepressants forever and my mental health issues will rear up time and time again.

What I'm mostly trying to say with this post is that it's okay to be scared, and have no clue what's going to happen in your future. It's okay to embrace the fear and accept it, and then move forward knowing that the fears are there, but it's okay, the universe, or God, or fate or whatever you believe in (even if it's just yourself) has got your back. 

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6 comments:

  1. Charlotte - Nichole8/4/18 20:27

    I totally live for this post! I had all these fears, and more as I was reaching the end of uni. It can totally overwhelm you and put you into a panic. But like you, I have started to embrace my fears. There is no point worrying about something you can't always control!
    Charlotte-Nichole
    x

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  2. brookewrote8/4/18 22:15

    You have no idea how much I needed this. I follow you on Bloglovin and stumbled across this post after having a meltdown about how I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I’m graduating in May and getting married in December (no doubts about that!) but my fiancé seems to have everything together while I flounder in the corner wondering what I want to do with my life. Thank you for being open and vulnerable and sharing. I feel so less alone.
    - Brooke from ordinary-joy.com

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  3. thrift deluxe9/4/18 08:31

    You're right, its OK to be scared, but also to not be scared because, no matter what, things will happen.

    I'm probably twice your age and other than the terrifying house prices your concerns are the same as those of mine and all my friends twenty years ago, and to be honest, now. There's always something to worry about and it will be there if you think about it or not.

    To "get on the housing ladder" and find work we had to move away from where we went to university, to somewhere far less exciting, and parted ways with quite a few friends. But new things came up, they always do, you can't have everything and that's good.

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  4. Beeing Sophie9/4/18 14:00

    I loved the honesty of this - it broke my heart to read, but it also hit home for me at the end and showed that openness helps. The reality is, hiding these feelings won't make them disappear. On the contrary, they are likely to go unchecked and make us more anxious than ever.

    By saying them, we're inviting a support network in who can counter what our heads tell us. Have people in our corner. That is invaluable.

    Ps: so are you <3

    Bumble and Be

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  5. last year's girl11/4/18 13:50

    Oh, lovely. I may have 10+ years on you, but I'm still so scared of many of the same things. I think the only differences are I have the mortgage, and my dirty laundry exists in a series of filled tote bags.

    So, solidarity; and you're absolutely right: it's okay to be scared, because it never really goes away, but you do keep moving forward. All of us do. The future is inevitable, and we'll all muddle our way to it together.

    Lis / last year's girl x

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  6. Anonymous17/4/18 16:51

    And now I'm scared. Haha. Honestly, this is such a lovely post Steph, that I know so many people will relate to. It is that fear of the unknown and it rears up in me a lot - what will the planet look in 10 years time if we continue as we are, and what will my future be. It's hella scary, but that's okay, just got to keep living life as it comes and doing our best, I think. x www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk x

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