Growing independence (the good parts)

[PastelPetals]

I am not the biggest fan of growing up but there are some things that happen that make me realize being independent has upsides. The biggest one for me has been cooking. I know how to cook for myself and if that means all I want to eat is tuna salad and sauteed peppers I can (that was indeed a phase). I can also choose convenience. I bought some frozen mashed cauliflower at the store last week and today I ate it and it was delicious!

What bits of independence do you like most!

 

[Judge]

If you live alone and subtract loneliness, the rest for many of us is all good. Where you have most everything your way.

Though with such independence also comes responsibility for most if not all of your actions. Where you must learn to live with your mistakes.

 

[Aspychata]

Being self-sufficient is such a beautiful thing at any age.

 

[Shamar]

I am not the biggest fan of growing up but there are some things that happen that make me realize being independent has upsides. The biggest one for me has been cooking. I know how to cook for myself and if that means all I want to eat is tuna salad and sauteed peppers I can (that was indeed a phase). I can also choose convenience. I bought some frozen mashed cauliflower at the store last week and today I ate it and it was delicious!

What bits of independence do you like most!

You will find you grow stronger, mentally, emotionally, and oftentimes physically. Sounds like you are experiencing some of that already. It is also scary sometimes. Use that strength you are acquiring to overcome fear.

 

[Outdated]

I had so much fun when I was your age, in fact I don't think I really started to grow up until I was in my 30s. Being able to cook decent food is a skill that's served me well all my life. You'll never go hungry.

 

[Thinx]

I have always liked independence and living alone. Although living with a partner is also enjoyable in my experience, luckily, as I am now married and settled. I like to have quiet days on my own still, as I do for some of the week. I enjoy local trips on buses and trains. Just wandering and thinking my own thoughts. I used to enjoy working alone too, especially when I was teaching, I liked the mix of training groups and times when I was marking or researching and planning trainings. I wouldn't say I quite fully grew up though. Not yet anyway.

 

[Outdated]

Your original post brought back a lot of very happy memories, thank you Petals.

When I was 19 I had been working for 3 years and was starting to develop the skills I needed to earn good money. I never had to worry about my budget too much. I had already worked out that the generic life pattern my parents lived wasn’t going to work very well for me so I set about exploring my world and finding out who I was and what it was that I wanted out of life.

We didn’t have computers or mobile phones back then and in a strange way this actually made us much more social than most people are today. If you wanted to talk to someone you had to go around to their house. We went out a lot, home was just somewhere to sleep, we lived outside.

Cars. Camping. Surfing. Skiing. Fishing. Shooting. Bikes. Motorbikes. Clubs. Parties. I even played Golf.

And yes, I had to learn a lot of harsh lessons along the way. A quote from Terry Pratchet:

Wisdom is something you get just after you really needed it.

 

[SusanLR]

Living life the way I want without having to think about someone else continuously.
Loneliness comes into play though.
Some things I like to share or talk about.

Thus, my by-line: Every form of refuge has it's price.