A 26 Year Old Baby

My younger sister (Arin) and I lived together in college for a semester. It was a blast! She's very patient with me, as is my whole family, but she really could put up with what I call my "fake whining." It happens from time to time, especially when I'm stressed. When it does I make a face…Arin started calling it my "baby face". On these occasions when I whined about having to do homework (or just get up and get myself some milk) Arin would show me this picture:

It cracked me up! It still does. 

I just realized last week, that's me. That's what I am. I am a 26 year old baby. Nothing has changed since college. I also believe that's what a lot of my generation is these days. (And congrats if you don't fit this mold.)

We run from anything deemed hard, too much work, or inconvenient. 

I always justified my messy room, eating out every night, or my list of undid "to do's" to that mentality….'I'm an adult I can do what I please when I please', when really we're all just acting childish.

Being an adult doesn't mean anything about shirking responsibility, it means rising up to those less than exhilarating jobs and doing them anyways. Let's just face the facts…refer to the list below.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can watch whatever show or movie that is out there because "I'm mature enough", it means saying no to viewing things that will drive away the Spirit and making the better choice with what goes into my mind and how I spend my time.
There's a lot of justification that goes into this one…

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat out whenever I'd like because "it's my money", it means making a true effort to save money by grocery shopping and actually using the groceries you buy.
My new grocery shopping day is Thursday.

Being an adult doesn't mean I can eat whatever I please, it means taking care of my body (especially my type 1 genetically passed down diabetes) in a way that will allow me to spend my time on the earth doing good for others. 
I'm hitting the gym 5 times a week…so that just happened last week, but I plan to keep it up!

Being an adult doesn't mean I can stay up until all hours of the night, it means having the discipline to say "I'm going to bed." even when everyone else is still having a good time.
Man this one is difficult for me. I'm writing this at O-Dark-Thirty.

Being an adult doesn't mean I put off laundry until I have no more undies to survive, it means making an effort complete a load a week, this includes all of the steps. Wash, fold, put away. 
A work in progress. Do not come and inspect my room, please.

Being an adult doesn't mean I always get to do what I want, it means rising up the responsibilities placed upon me by my job, my family, or my God.
It isn't always going to be conducive to my schedule, and I need to be flexible.

Being an adult doesn't mean things are going to come easy to me just because I try to be a good person, it means working harder to maximize my potential. 
I could do well at so many things if I just put in more effort. 

Being an adult is letting go of the baby face, getting up and getting my own milk. It's about putting off the natural man and becoming a saint. (Book of Mormon- Mosiah 3:19) It's about being, not just physically, but spiritually mature.

Let's grow up.

Of course through the course of my adulthood I expect there to be fun, laughter, and adventure…there's no doubt about that. Maybe I'm a little hard on myself from time to time, but I have goals. I believe if I can grasp onto the idea that I  just need to be an adult, I can accomplish most of what I stated above.

So the question stands to be answered, are you an adult?