Sure, there are times when we all feel just as young, immature, and irrational as we did when we were in high school and university.
But then there are those others when we sit back and realize that we’ve become actual functioning grown-ups.
And it turns out adulthood isn’t too bad.
While we can’t get away with as much as we used to, there are countless positives to growing up. Need proof? No problem – here are 19 things that become cooler as you get older.
1. Grocery Shopping
Remember back in university, when grocery shopping was almost as daunting as hauling your laundry to the laundry mat? Not only did the potential of “insufficient funds” at the register give you anxiety, navigating the whole space as an adult was a totally foreign concept. Now, it’s kind of fun – especially when it involves gourmet cheese.
2. Dinner Parties
Putting those groceries to good use becomes more fun as an adult as well. While we would once watch our parents and their friends banter over food and wine and wonder what was so fun about dinner parties, there comes a point in your life when you finally get it. At the very least, in our ever-smaller social scenes, they ensure you won’t run into anyone you don’t want to see.
3. Foreign Films
Back in grade school, few things were as exciting as walking into the classroom and seeing the TV on its trolley. Few things were worse than discovering you were in for a foreign language film. Now, you’re definitely into some of them (especially since you’re not being tested).
4. Jazz
Jazz music is another one of those things that takes time to develop an appreciation for. Whereas we’d once opt for anything other than jazz on our playlists, now, a jazz band is a reason to stay for an extra drink at a venue.
5. Gardening
You know you’ve officially become an adult when the prospect of hitting your local garden centre and spending the day working on that newfound green thumb of yours gives you as much joy as your best friend’s weed plant did back in the day.
6. Work
Most of us have had some pretty brutal part-time jobs. Work wasn’t something we enjoyed per say, but something that was necessary to afford all the trappings of modern teenage and university life once the allowance was cut off. Now, if you have the luxury of doing something you love – and feel rewarded and fulfilled at the same time – work becomes actually (gasp) enjoyable.
7. Sleep
From the time we were able to say “no,” we all would challenge our parents when it came to bedtime. When it finally became our decision, most of us lived on very little sleep – especially during those hazy university days. Somewhere along the way though, most of us realized how much better we’d look, feel, and perform after a solid night in the sheets.
8. Being Yourself
One of the best parts about being an actual adult is that moment you realize you’re actual comfortable in your own skin. Unlike your days of dying your hair to be cool, rocking an outfit that really wasn’t you, or pretending to be someone you weren’t, most of us are now shamelessly and unapologetically ourselves. And that’s a good thing.
9. Documentaries
Young professionals and documentary films are pretty much synonymous – but that wasn’t always the case. No matter the subject matter, documentaries were automatically labeled “boring” back in the day. But then again, that was before Netflix.
10. Walks
As children, walks weren’t nearly as fun as riding our bikes or rollerblading down the street instead. Fast forward a few years, and “walks” were reserved for sneaking away from the parents to smoke pot or make-out with your crush. Now, they’re actually enjoyable ways to simply take a break from the craziness and centre ourselves.
11. Wine Tasting
Back in the day, alcohol consumption involved chugging keg beer and liquor – that you pretended didn’t taste as horrible as it actually did – for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Now, taking the time to sip, swirl, and actually taste wine seems to make a lot more sense.
12. Saturday Morning Workouts
Back in university, the closest thing you’d get to a Saturday morning workout involved walking to the bathroom and back to bed (and maybe a little morning sex). Now, the best thing about Saturdays is that you can kick the day off with a workout without worrying about your morning meeting.
13. Saving Money
Remember the days of blowing every cent you own the day your pay cheque arrived on things like designer clothing you only wore once, trips that would take months to pay off, and partying your face off? Now having things like mortgages, RRSPs, and savings accounts seems pretty cool.
14. Opera and Ballet
At one point, most of us would probably rather sit though a six-hour exam than through a two-hour opera or ballet performance. Now, a night at the opera or ballet makes for a perfect date night or night out with the parents for many of us culture-craving young professionals.
15. Your Parents
Whereas they once used to annoy and embarrass us, it turns out our parents were right about a few things – they are (and always have been) older and wiser, after all. You never thought you’d admit it, but it’s true. Some of us are even becoming like them, just as we were always told we would.
16. Actual Invitations
As opposed to Facebook invites, group emails, or text message chains, there comes a point when we revert back to our grade school birthday parties with a good, old-fashioned invitation to things like weddings, showers, and even milestone birthday celebrations.
17. Meaningful Conversations
There (hopefully) comes a time when banter with friends turns from who’s dating who and who got the drunkest at last weekend’s party to things that actually matter in life. If the conversation involves a good debate, all the better.
18. Decorating
For most of us back in the day, “decorating” our places meant a few posters on the wall and assembling the same Ikea shelf that all of our friends had. Now, we put as much effort into our living spaces when it comes to decorating as we do our outfits. After all, we spend a lot more nights in these days.
19. Couples’ Dinners
Whereas back in the day most of us would keep our significant others (SO) separate from the “girls” or “guys,” there comes a point when they become increasingly ingrained – especially if your SO hits it off with your BFF’s SO. When free time is so precious these days, couples’ trips and vacations mean killing two birds with one stone.
