As Kids We Used to Laugh, Who Knew that LIfe Would Move this Fast?

Question for anyone: When did you grow up?
I'm not talking about the decade you grew up in or the first time you got paid from your first job. I'm talking about when you first realized you had left behind your days as a youth and were now considered an adult in everyone's eyes.

I have come to learn that life is a non-stop process of learning filled with perseverance. From the day we're born, responsibilities are placed on us in order to allow us to keep up in this world. We begin growing the first day of our lives and never stop. However, realizing you've entered that area of "responsible adult" is a surprising and unexpected realization.

I remember feeling all grown up whenever I was working during my year off from school a few years back. I remembering feeling like a responsible young adult when I left for Ohio State....I mean THE Ohio State. But did I feel like an adult? Not at all.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to go bowl with a friend where I would also help her watch over her baby brother and his friends. It was supposed to be a total of four or five of us, but much to our unfortunate surprise, we had to watch over a total of five or six 12 year olds for about two hours. It was our duty to make sure these kids didn't leave our sight and to answer either yes or no when asked if they were allowed to use the restroom or grab snacks.

After bowling, while eating, I realized what I was. Was I? Already? After going back and forth with this thinking, I hesitantly accepted the reality of what I was......an adult.

Was it really that long ago that my friends and I looked forward to going to that same bowling alley with the hopes of breaking 100, play lazer tag, and hit up the arcade? Was it really that long ago? I found myself not caring about breaking 100 (I like to aim at a 140), nor about playing in the arcade. All I was worried about is making sure the kids were ok.

I brought this up to a group of friends a few days later, and sure enough, one of them had a recent panic about growing up. He explained to me how this upcoming decade will be the 10 years that will determine our lives. Most of us are going to graduate from college, have a career, find our significant other, and have kids by the time the year 2020 arrives. That got me thinking of what the future holds for myself, my family, friends, and the world in general. How will our lives be like 10 years from now? Now that I'm an adult, what steps do I have to take in order to make sure I'll be ok by the time 2020 comes around.

So, I stand/type before you as an adult. Someone who is responsible enough to look over kids, as someone who is expected to make the right choices, and as someone on the brink of attaining that "old man strength." This should be interesting.