Growing up

Enzo Amuele



A common phrase met with so many mixed emotions, everyone has their say about growing up.

When you are a toddler, all you want to do is grow up and become a policeman, soldier and a firefighter as these are the most common careers kids want to follow, or whatever it is you are interested in as a child.

As you grow up, a lot of things change in our lives, and I mean a lot of things change. Your interests change as you grow up from being a child who likes playing around in the streets to a child who loves reading, for instance.

The fear of growing up starts to kick in when you are in your varsity years. This also mostly depends on how fast you mature and the experiences you have been through while growing up.

I imagine the thought of living alone would create quite some fear, but as I said, it all depends on who you are.

Some people depend on their parents so much that they would never experience such fear because everything is provided for them on a silver platter.

Someone coming from a rich family, in my opinion, would never experience the fear of growing up because, in most cases, everything is provided.

Someone from a poor family would experience this fear because they will have to mature at a younger age and learn to be independent at a young age.

But then again, you can also find someone from a rich family who fears growing up, in the sense that they are brought up in such a way that they have to hustle for themselves.

This is some sort of training for growth. A child is most likely not going to fear growth when they are raised in that way.

This is something we must refrain from as we grow up: Being too dependent on our parents. Gaining independence isn’t as tricky as it seems.

As you grow up, you must make sure to acquire the basic skills such as tutoring yourself how to raise a child, save money and whatever you have to do, so you won’t have any fear growing up.

If no one helps you to grow up, this is where you teach yourself about independence.

Growing up means being able to take care of yourself and taking accountability for your actions and decisions and trust me, all this will hit you hard if you aren’t prepared for it as you grow up.

Valuing our childhood is essential to moving on with our lives. Today is the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll ever be again and remembering that each day is a new chance and a new chapter is reassuring.

Do not let the fear of growing up eat you up. Stay calm and take things as they come - this is a form of accepting growth.