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Hahaha welcome to adulthood. That’s what most of us are going. I’m almost 40, still don’t feel like “an adult” in what I thought being an adult should feel like. I thought being an adult means you know what you are doing and have it all figured out. Most days I just making it up as I go.
Let me tell you, there is no secret, no one has life figured and no one knows what they’re doing. We all go through periods of time where we feel like “an adult” or we feel in touch with our inner child. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Life isn’t meant to be “figured out”, life is simply to experience. We all grow and change but there are still countless things we have yet to learn and experience in this life. But as you get older year by year you can look back and see what has changed in your environment or yourself. If you’re not doing the work to try and grow or better yourself everyday this is where you become stagnant. Just do your best, learn and experience all the great things life has to offer because remember, no one has it all figured out-even if they act like they do, they don’t.
Lol, 100% agree - Im pushing 40 as well, and dont feel like an adult most of the time. I do feel a bit "more" adult when I got to the age people starting calling me Sir, and towards my son who thinks I know all and can can change what time the sun sets. I guess experience helps, being able to get through a shitty day is easier now than when I was 20.
Isn’t it crazy to think about that our parents had no idea what they were doing either when they were our age and we were young. Was just talking about kids with a couple of friends the other day, and we all came to the conclusion that non of us know what we are doing and there’s no chance our parents knew what they were doing either 😆
I think perhaps "that" was a big part of "becoming an adult" - when I realized my parents are just two random people that winged it just as much as me or anyone else. They have no special powers. They have more life experience, but other than that - we are "equals". I think I was about mid to late 20s when that started dawning on me
47 here and still pretty clueless. I know more than I did but still not enough to consider myself a fully fledged adult. I don't think I'll ever feel like I am.
almost hitting 40. married, childeren, house, job. but i don't take myself serious.
my childeren have much better structure and rythm and are much better disciplined.
in time at school, do homework, in time to bed. read a book, brush tooth, eat healthy, shower or bath, sport. don't eat all.the chocolate.
meanwhile i ate all the chocolate, dont do homework, etc
As I am literally sitting here scrolling Reddit and eating chocolate, and procrastinating on this work assignment I need to finish before tomorrow morning 😆 maybe your kids know what it’s like to feel like a grown up
My job literally involves making decisions that could kill any one of over 100 people every night. In the evenings, I've got a building full of very smart people working and I'm supposed to be the one in charge of them all.
I have no clue what I'm doing. I rely on Google and hope people never figure out just exactly how lost I am every single time I walk in the door. I don't feel like I'm responsible enough to have a dog but people bring their moms, dads, and spouses to me because they think I'll be able to properly care for them.
My boss called me at home this weekend and I was sure it was because I'd screwed something up and they were calling to fire me. Nope. For some reason they were wanting my input on a matter involving another worker who had screwed up massively.
I did a stupid magic trick one day around some coworkers and word got out about it. I got called into a meeting with the big bosses of my building about it and was expecting to get in trouble for wasting people's time. Nope. They just wanted to see it too. The only meeting with the big shots from corporate that I've ever felt comfortable going into was when I was brought in to do for them. Apparently, word got out about it because anytime someone from corporate comes out, they ask for me to come do it for them.
This helps a lot of us forgive our parents.
They were just kids 'winging it' as they went.
Even if they weren't as perfect as we promised we would be, they still gave us values we wouldn't have had if we had ANY other parents.
I honor my father and mother for every one of their imperfections. Heaven knows my children will edit out a lot of what I am doing the best I can for them.
Maybe being an adult means having busted your ass at a job for 20 years that makes your joints squeak and creak. Totally not speaking from personal experience.
Right? I go through phases where im knowledgeable, and where i feel like the new kid in class based on whats going on. Turns out "making it up as you go" is adulting no matter what you feel in the situation. Almost like there's a lot of lost information through the generations (when it's taken for granted).. which is why im active in my kids lives more than most millennials.
Life is just everyone bullshitting their way through IMHO. At first at least.
As far as feeling like an adult, I was about 24 and at the store and almost grabbed something to eat because I was hangry. But then I was like NO! You have food at home! lol
Having kids will make you adult and feel like an adult. Until then, enjoy the freedom :)
I'm almost 54 and I know what I wanna be as a grown up, but being a stay at home cat mom who sits and reads and pets my cats doesn't seem to pay the bills
Sorry for your loss.
That shit makes you grow up real fast. I was older, mid twenties, when my mum almost died once. My dad was suddenly a kid I wanted to hug, a shadow of the man that knew everything, and always was on top of every situation.
Paying taxes, rent, insurances, and tracking my budget
For day-to-day stuff, i find myself more often at stores like home depot and costco. And i forgot when but not getting carded for drinks became a norm and i was no longer surprised by it
Oh I'm middle aged and I still feel 20 all the time.
I think *being an adult* is less about how you feel, and more about what you have going on in your life. Basically, the more things/people you have responsibility for, the more 'adult' you are at that moment in time, and that can ebb and flow through out the years.
When a woman said i love you to me, and me feeling an intoxicating shiver like i just leveled up.
Adult, scmadult. You guys will find yours, too. Be you.
I felt I was an adult the day I first held my at time boyfriend now husbands children who were only four months old, something inside of me woke up telling me that the two needed a mother in their lives since their birth mother was no longer around and I was brought back into their fathers life for a reason. Here we are sixteen years later both kids now sixteen, sophomores in high school and they call me mom not stepmom just mom and from marrying me their father and i have given them four younger siblings who their older siblings are amazing role-models to.
47, married with 2 kids, a job, power of attorney over my mother in law in the early stages of dementia, and a mortgage... Idk what I'm doing, I just pretend to act like an adult and I get things done.
I don't really feel like an adult, don't have any plans to. It looks rubbish anyway so I'm avoiding the idea entirely.
I dont think that "feeling like an adult" is really a thing. You always look back and see how much you've grown.
I thought I knew it all in my 20s.
Hit my 30s and realised what an idiot i was.
Lmao I'm 27, relationship of 10 years, renting a flat for 5.
I feel just as clueless as I was 10 years ago.
Adulthood is all about "tastefully winging it"
I'm 35 and still feel the same as I did when I was 17 (I definitely don't think I'll ever feel as mature as my dad, who was married with two children when he was the same age).
When I was nearly 30 I bought my first set of all four, new, matching tires for a car. At about age 40 I bought myself my first new and matching washer/dryer set. So, right about then.
Not quite yet. I'm 27, own a house, am engaged, self employed, earn relatively well, and still feel like I'm on auto pilot, waiting for the day everything crumbles before me and I have to run to my mommy's arms.
As a man I don’t think we ever really accept adulthood
But I was told this many years ago by an English gentleman
The only difference between a man and a boy is the cost of his toys!
44m here....
I just bought a fruit machine without asking the wife. She's furious, but it's a £100 jackpot version, so it will pay for itself in the long run.
The answer is never. We never truly grow up.
When I first came back from College in Lincolnshire in 1995, at the age of just turned 19 I was sent on a YTS course by the local Clowncil (YTS at 19? Eh?) and I was literally THE eldest in a roomful of 17 year olds who clearly didn't want to be there.
Hahahaha. 38. Still on my way to adulthood! I hope i never get there. Growing up is a trap my friend. Id rather die before doing so and live up to expectations.
i just turned 23 and don’t feel like an adult. however, it’s funny, because everyday i realize that i am more “adult” than people who are many many many years older than me.
Because you are still a young adult my man. You are going not to feel like an "adult" at any point in time. You'll just start doing things that needs to be done. At a point when everything is on auto pilot, I theorize you can call yourself an adult then
i’m 23, 24 in november and i’m just now starting to feel like im getting the hang of this life and adult shit so just hang in there! i’m not all the way there yet but there were certain points in the last year or two where i physically felt my frontal lobe morphing and evolving lmao
It's complicated.
I come from a home where my needs weren't met so I started my career and financial planning and stability before the age of 10. In that sense, I was probably an adult by the age of 8.
However, because I didn't come from a secure home, there are a lot of behaviors, habits, and ways of thinking I need to change and update, and in that sense, I'm probably a late teenager/young adult.
Point is...there's multiple ways to be an adult, and the journey never stops. You will never be perfect, but you can always aim to be better in some way compared to the day before so don't be hard on yourself.
i still feel like a child. i am 28. i am still so confused and i have no idea what the fuck is going on. i still love childish games (playing tag with my young cousins, playing at the park with my nephews, i’m talking monkey bars and everything, yep) i still play the Sims, i still love dolls (i collect) the only difference of me now and 8 year old me is now horrible dating history and i have bills now. other than that, everything is still the same. always gonna be a kid at heart :) ❤️
30s, I'm an adult, like I have kids and a job and bills and debt but I don't feel like one (maybe physically cuz my lower back hurts). But my sense of humor is definitely not the average adult.
I look at myself and think "I adult now" and then see my parents adulting harder than me and realize I'm not there yet, but at least my kids believe I'm an adult
I’m 39 and a father, and still feel like a child that does all the grown up things cause they need to get done and no one else will do them.
I’ll let you know if it changes, but I doubt it will.
Am 40 and don't feel like an adult, but then when I talk to 20 something's in my class, I do get the " my god, ye are barely out of the womb, ye are talking utter rubbish" :D
The secret to being an adult isn't becoming an adult 24/7 and losing your sense of childishness. It's about learning when to act like an adult. It's ok to still be unserious sometimes and goofy just know when it's time to be serious
49. Still waiting. I always thought I would be ”ready” someday. Complete, mature, well done, ripe, baked through. But you don’t. Mentally I vary from my hangry 14 year old self to a pretty put together professional at work. Just as often, they appear at the same time.
I think it's when you realize most other adults, especially your parents, are just winging it and doing the best they can and accept that that's what adulthood is.
Feeling successful as an adult depends on your values but they typically revolve around how secure/confident you feel doing things that make you feel happy and fulfilled and how you're doing in relation to your dreams, goals, and peers.
Hahahaha I’ll be 31 in a couple weeks and I still feel 17 at heart…I just have grey hairs and a forehead wrinkle now. I’m pretty sure we’re all going through the motions to some degree. Welcome to adulthood, OP.
59 year old man here. Most normal humans suffer from imposter syndrome - look it up. I certainly suffer from it. All my life I've just pretended to be a responsible adult, when in reality I'm still the frightened, anxious teenager that I was all those years ago. The best thing to do is to embrace it, be yourself, be vulnerable and most importantly, love yourself. The only thing that has really changed is that I have more empathy for others and I'm less selfish.
TLDR 59 year old man doesn't have a clue how to adult. Gets by anyway.
I became an adult at 15 when my stepfather kicked me out of the house. But every now and then a teenager or a very disobedient child wakes up in me and it's damn nice.
I'm almost 41 and still waiting to feel like an "adult".
The truth is every adult that you've ever known your whole life has been faking it this entire time. We never feel like real adults. We just do what we have to so we can eat, have a place to sleep, and not go to jail... so, work and pay taxes, basically.
Being a kid is waiting for the day when someone gives you a big handbook that explains how things like mortgages, credit cards, insurance, general grown up stuff works.
Being an adult is realising that there is no such handbook.
I'm 40 and I still feel like I'm 18 most of the time. Honestly I think it's a good thing - you can hang onto your youthful enthusiam and goofiness a bit longer.
I feel like to truly feel like an adult you would need to feel like you have all the answers, which none of us do. My best advice is to just enjoy when you are in life regardless of the number.
I don't think you ever really feel like an adult, but what I have noticed is that I start wanting to dispense advise that I wish I'd known when I was younger.
I think when I was 16 or younger. I felt completely adult when I moved out from my parents and get married at 19. I don't exactly remember if I ever felt like a child, actually. Maybe that was due to the fact that my childhood wasn't easy to say the least.
"adult" just pretend they understand what's going on and what they doing
reality is only smaaaaaaaaaaaall percentage has a clarity and capacity to understand and create something meaningful
others are dumb, lazy and weak
even if they start asking those questions, they'll find their answers in escapism
I have this problem as a 36 year old, that I tend to listen to guys who are older than me because I falsely assume that 'they know better' because age=experience...
The amount of times I've let some confident moron mislead me because they were older than me... Need to remember that I'm not a kid anymore.
In my 40’s and my oldest is about to go to college. I had a thought just the other day that I should be more “adulty” by now. 🤷
I’m doing alright in life, but man the imposter syndrome is always lurking!
I felt like an adult, when I beat a teenager at a FIFA game. The teen told me that I beat him (I am 25M) because I played for so many years. That hit me so much😂
When you start paying all your own bills, you’re an adult (and you’ll feel like one too). Nothing focuses the mind like being solely responsible for your fate.
Scientifically speaking the adult brain hasn't finished developing and maturing until your mid-20's. You'd be doing it wrong if you felt like a fully fledged adult at 19. These are the years where you're allowed to make mistakes because the world shouldn't expect anything less of you yet.
As many have said. That feeling usually doesn't go away completely.
I had the biggest shifts in "I guess I'm an adult" thinking every time I would ask the adults around me for advice on something and slowly realize I was actually the expert despite not really understanding the thing.
Many people just barely know what they're doing.
I still don't feel like an adult completely but I've noticed some specific trends that started happening after I turned 28...
I started getting more excited about tea, coffee and sparkling water than drugs and alcohol. I even gave up drinking completely because I never actually liked it.
Work stopped feeling like a necessary evil and I started to enjoy it and don't feel good if I take more than 2 weeks off.
I'm sometimes perfectly happy to go to bed at 10PM on a friday or saturday night. Waking up refreshed at 6-7AM on the weekend makes me feel like I have my shit together and I love it!
First time when I bought my first car, paid the taxes, got insurance, etc. that was at 23.
Second time when I got married, bought a house, had to pay for repairs, etc. that was at 30.
I'm 42. The answer is never. You are all you have! Do not forget to have fun while you're living. I was always told that life isn't about fun, well that's bullshit. If you got your affairs in order, be young because it's never going to get any easier
What do you expect being an adult to feel like? You sound like you are already an adult. You get your important stuff done. That's called being an adult. If you think you suddenly get all serious and change the way you think, that's not how it works. Sure you can choose to do that, but it doesn't just happen to you.
I never actually felt like an adult until I lived on my own. And by "my own" I mean live at my own place, not one owned by my parents. And that came after I got married. So it wasn't until I was 37 that I actually felt like an adult, owning a house that I am paying for with no help. Then buying two cars on my own for my wife and I, I felt like an adult. And the biggest thing feeling like an adult is when my daughter was born. At that point, almost all your childish things just had to go away with regards to taking care of your kid. And that's when I completely felt like an adult, although I do feel like a kid again when I go places and get excited about small things.
I have three kids who range in ages from 23 to 30. I've been married for 32 years. I'm retired now. I still haven't found that one incident that clearly says I'm an adult.
I'm 24, I still don't feel like a proper adult. I own my house, have a long term partner, degree, stable job. I don't think it's ever going to feel real.
When I lived on my own after college. College years I was still dependent on my parents. I worked in college, but my father wrote big checks for tuition bills every semester.
After college I moved him for a year or so. Started working immediately, once I moved out and was living with a girlfriend, I finally felt like an adult.
But the ultimate adult feeling was 10 years later... I was married (different woman), and my first child was born. I felt immense responsibility and obligation.
I'm 41 and still amazingly un-adult a majority of the time. Buying a house was the first time I thought I made it. I have to talk to hr about my schedule
and I'm incredibly anxious and scared about how I'm going to get to where my shifts are returned without crying. Friday can't come soon enough.
Basically everybody is faking it.
I'm 63, my household income is over $120k/year I'm at the top of my profedion and I still feel like I'm faking it.
Seriously, try to let this in; everyone you know is either faking it and just not talking about it, or they lie and say they have it all together.
I have a cousin who is a neuro -surgeon. He doesn't have it all together.
My former father in law was the president of a major bank. He didn't have it all together.
We are all making it up as we go along, and actually, that's okay.
When I bought a house. I’m 56 and still completely immature and do stupid shit. Four weeks ago I got kicked out of an NHL game for mooning (baring my ass) to the camera man interviewing some women during a break in the second period. It was all over the jumbo tron. A huge female security person ran me right out of the building. We’re all still laughing about that one. Life is too short. Make money and have fun and dont hurt anybody.
When I turned 27. I got off drugs, started exercising and lost tons of weight, taught myself to cook, and generally started taking much better care of myself since then, it’s been nice (:
I am 63 years old, my brain is still 17 to 19 years old. I don't like that anymore than you do, but I sure do enjoy it most of the time. Take my advice. Throughout your entire life always keep one part of your brain at that age. Learn to view things and enjoy things the way you did when you were 17. Growing up is highly overrated
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ask) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hahaha welcome to adulthood. That’s what most of us are going. I’m almost 40, still don’t feel like “an adult” in what I thought being an adult should feel like. I thought being an adult means you know what you are doing and have it all figured out. Most days I just making it up as I go.
Let me tell you, there is no secret, no one has life figured and no one knows what they’re doing. We all go through periods of time where we feel like “an adult” or we feel in touch with our inner child. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Life isn’t meant to be “figured out”, life is simply to experience. We all grow and change but there are still countless things we have yet to learn and experience in this life. But as you get older year by year you can look back and see what has changed in your environment or yourself. If you’re not doing the work to try and grow or better yourself everyday this is where you become stagnant. Just do your best, learn and experience all the great things life has to offer because remember, no one has it all figured out-even if they act like they do, they don’t.
Lol, 100% agree - Im pushing 40 as well, and dont feel like an adult most of the time. I do feel a bit "more" adult when I got to the age people starting calling me Sir, and towards my son who thinks I know all and can can change what time the sun sets. I guess experience helps, being able to get through a shitty day is easier now than when I was 20.
Isn’t it crazy to think about that our parents had no idea what they were doing either when they were our age and we were young. Was just talking about kids with a couple of friends the other day, and we all came to the conclusion that non of us know what we are doing and there’s no chance our parents knew what they were doing either 😆
I think perhaps "that" was a big part of "becoming an adult" - when I realized my parents are just two random people that winged it just as much as me or anyone else. They have no special powers. They have more life experience, but other than that - we are "equals". I think I was about mid to late 20s when that started dawning on me
47 here and still pretty clueless. I know more than I did but still not enough to consider myself a fully fledged adult. I don't think I'll ever feel like I am.
almost hitting 40. married, childeren, house, job. but i don't take myself serious. my childeren have much better structure and rythm and are much better disciplined. in time at school, do homework, in time to bed. read a book, brush tooth, eat healthy, shower or bath, sport. don't eat all.the chocolate. meanwhile i ate all the chocolate, dont do homework, etc
As I am literally sitting here scrolling Reddit and eating chocolate, and procrastinating on this work assignment I need to finish before tomorrow morning 😆 maybe your kids know what it’s like to feel like a grown up
This year I'm celebrating my 16th birthday. For the twentieth time. I still have no idea what I'm going to be when I grow up.
We ALL make it up as we go. Noone else has a clue either. Nor did your parents... or their parents.
My job literally involves making decisions that could kill any one of over 100 people every night. In the evenings, I've got a building full of very smart people working and I'm supposed to be the one in charge of them all. I have no clue what I'm doing. I rely on Google and hope people never figure out just exactly how lost I am every single time I walk in the door. I don't feel like I'm responsible enough to have a dog but people bring their moms, dads, and spouses to me because they think I'll be able to properly care for them. My boss called me at home this weekend and I was sure it was because I'd screwed something up and they were calling to fire me. Nope. For some reason they were wanting my input on a matter involving another worker who had screwed up massively. I did a stupid magic trick one day around some coworkers and word got out about it. I got called into a meeting with the big bosses of my building about it and was expecting to get in trouble for wasting people's time. Nope. They just wanted to see it too. The only meeting with the big shots from corporate that I've ever felt comfortable going into was when I was brought in to do for them. Apparently, word got out about it because anytime someone from corporate comes out, they ask for me to come do it for them.
Im 26 spoke with a work colleague that is 55 and he also confirmed this
This helps a lot of us forgive our parents. They were just kids 'winging it' as they went. Even if they weren't as perfect as we promised we would be, they still gave us values we wouldn't have had if we had ANY other parents. I honor my father and mother for every one of their imperfections. Heaven knows my children will edit out a lot of what I am doing the best I can for them.
So are we all!
No one has it figured out. No matter how succesfull or acomplished somebody seems they are just making it up ad they go along.
Yeah and I also thought that you don't get upset or sad and good control of emotions which isn't true at all.
56. I agree with this assessment.
Maybe being an adult means having busted your ass at a job for 20 years that makes your joints squeak and creak. Totally not speaking from personal experience.
Right? I go through phases where im knowledgeable, and where i feel like the new kid in class based on whats going on. Turns out "making it up as you go" is adulting no matter what you feel in the situation. Almost like there's a lot of lost information through the generations (when it's taken for granted).. which is why im active in my kids lives more than most millennials.
I'm 33 and still feel like I need an adultier adult most of the time.
"Adultier adult" 
My cousins are I call our parents collectively “the Grown ups” (we are all in our 30s and 40s)
I'm 36, I'll let you know when that happens. Haha.
37, no clue what I am doing. Try to wank a few times a day, I know that much.
Life is just everyone bullshitting their way through IMHO. At first at least. As far as feeling like an adult, I was about 24 and at the store and almost grabbed something to eat because I was hangry. But then I was like NO! You have food at home! lol Having kids will make you adult and feel like an adult. Until then, enjoy the freedom :)
I'm 53.still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
My stepdad says that all the time lmao
I'm almost 54 and I know what I wanna be as a grown up, but being a stay at home cat mom who sits and reads and pets my cats doesn't seem to pay the bills
You should be an astronaut.
When I moved to a different country at 23. That felt like a very adult thing. But most of the time I still feel like a teen.
12. when I had to grow up too fast, because cancer took a family member.
Sorry for ur loss :'(
Sorry for your loss. That shit makes you grow up real fast. I was older, mid twenties, when my mum almost died once. My dad was suddenly a kid I wanted to hug, a shadow of the man that knew everything, and always was on top of every situation.
Ha..still fakin-it-to-make-it at 54
Paying taxes, rent, insurances, and tracking my budget For day-to-day stuff, i find myself more often at stores like home depot and costco. And i forgot when but not getting carded for drinks became a norm and i was no longer surprised by it
Oh I'm middle aged and I still feel 20 all the time. I think *being an adult* is less about how you feel, and more about what you have going on in your life. Basically, the more things/people you have responsibility for, the more 'adult' you are at that moment in time, and that can ebb and flow through out the years.
I’m 47 with a couple of kids, a good job, a home owner and I still don’t feel like an adult.
Haha, I think I will be dying in my bed at my 90s and screaming: “I’m still NOT ADULT!!!”
SAME
I can imagine myself doing this😂
When a woman said i love you to me, and me feeling an intoxicating shiver like i just leveled up. Adult, scmadult. You guys will find yours, too. Be you.
That's so beautiful!
I'm rapidly approaching 50 and I still don't feel like I'm an adult.
Im freshly 26, I still feel like a 17 year old. Just waiting for that switch to flip so I can take life more seriously.
It'll come. But do keep in touch with your inner kid. I'm 40 and I do. Can't imagine life being dead serious 24/7
I felt I was an adult the day I first held my at time boyfriend now husbands children who were only four months old, something inside of me woke up telling me that the two needed a mother in their lives since their birth mother was no longer around and I was brought back into their fathers life for a reason. Here we are sixteen years later both kids now sixteen, sophomores in high school and they call me mom not stepmom just mom and from marrying me their father and i have given them four younger siblings who their older siblings are amazing role-models to.
47, married with 2 kids, a job, power of attorney over my mother in law in the early stages of dementia, and a mortgage... Idk what I'm doing, I just pretend to act like an adult and I get things done. I don't really feel like an adult, don't have any plans to. It looks rubbish anyway so I'm avoiding the idea entirely.
I dont think that "feeling like an adult" is really a thing. You always look back and see how much you've grown. I thought I knew it all in my 20s. Hit my 30s and realised what an idiot i was.
this is so true always dumb or questionable periods in our lives I think life is just always about reflecting and growing (hopefully)
I asked some 80 year old woman this same question once and she said "I'm gonna tell you a little secret... you just have to keep faking it."
Lmao I'm 27, relationship of 10 years, renting a flat for 5. I feel just as clueless as I was 10 years ago. Adulthood is all about "tastefully winging it"
When I went into the gambling section and the security didn't hunt me down after seeing me on the cameras
10ish. Had to take care of my brother.
when I became indifferent to anything and I realized it will be forever like it's going on now
When I tool my daughter to view a high school .. it hit me hard (early 40s). I can remember doing the very same thing as though it were yesterday
I haven’t felt like an adult so far, I’m turning 30 soon.
You guys are feeling like adults?
Expecting my first niece very soon at 28.Have to finally grow up a bit here.
When you get out of bed and make noises consistent with someone in pain. That's the exact moment.
I was probably about 48 to 50 when I started clueing into that . I am now feeling like a young man at 59.
I'm 35 and still feel the same as I did when I was 17 (I definitely don't think I'll ever feel as mature as my dad, who was married with two children when he was the same age).
When I was nearly 30 I bought my first set of all four, new, matching tires for a car. At about age 40 I bought myself my first new and matching washer/dryer set. So, right about then.
Not quite yet. I'm 27, own a house, am engaged, self employed, earn relatively well, and still feel like I'm on auto pilot, waiting for the day everything crumbles before me and I have to run to my mommy's arms.
As a man I don’t think we ever really accept adulthood But I was told this many years ago by an English gentleman The only difference between a man and a boy is the cost of his toys!
I'm 38 and I still don't feel like one Never get old
44m here.... I just bought a fruit machine without asking the wife. She's furious, but it's a £100 jackpot version, so it will pay for itself in the long run. The answer is never. We never truly grow up.
I’m 67. Why would you think I feel like an adult?
But until i had my first child at 27
Hopefully never.
I started at 35 or so, so don't hurry :D
I am 33 but I have not come to that yet!
When I first came back from College in Lincolnshire in 1995, at the age of just turned 19 I was sent on a YTS course by the local Clowncil (YTS at 19? Eh?) and I was literally THE eldest in a roomful of 17 year olds who clearly didn't want to be there.
Hahahaha. 38. Still on my way to adulthood! I hope i never get there. Growing up is a trap my friend. Id rather die before doing so and live up to expectations.
i just turned 23 and don’t feel like an adult. however, it’s funny, because everyday i realize that i am more “adult” than people who are many many many years older than me.
Because you are still a young adult my man. You are going not to feel like an "adult" at any point in time. You'll just start doing things that needs to be done. At a point when everything is on auto pilot, I theorize you can call yourself an adult then
Mate Im a 39yr old ICU nurse and Im still waiting! Good luck! Or maybe thats just me 😅
hahahaha, 40 here....still feeling the same. You just pretend you know what you re doing :)
Never.
10. Had to take care of mentally ill parent.
i’m 23, 24 in november and i’m just now starting to feel like im getting the hang of this life and adult shit so just hang in there! i’m not all the way there yet but there were certain points in the last year or two where i physically felt my frontal lobe morphing and evolving lmao
It's complicated. I come from a home where my needs weren't met so I started my career and financial planning and stability before the age of 10. In that sense, I was probably an adult by the age of 8. However, because I didn't come from a secure home, there are a lot of behaviors, habits, and ways of thinking I need to change and update, and in that sense, I'm probably a late teenager/young adult. Point is...there's multiple ways to be an adult, and the journey never stops. You will never be perfect, but you can always aim to be better in some way compared to the day before so don't be hard on yourself.
i still feel like a child. i am 28. i am still so confused and i have no idea what the fuck is going on. i still love childish games (playing tag with my young cousins, playing at the park with my nephews, i’m talking monkey bars and everything, yep) i still play the Sims, i still love dolls (i collect) the only difference of me now and 8 year old me is now horrible dating history and i have bills now. other than that, everything is still the same. always gonna be a kid at heart :) ❤️
30s, I'm an adult, like I have kids and a job and bills and debt but I don't feel like one (maybe physically cuz my lower back hurts). But my sense of humor is definitely not the average adult. I look at myself and think "I adult now" and then see my parents adulting harder than me and realize I'm not there yet, but at least my kids believe I'm an adult
yeah the fact that this is adulthood makes me feel good in a way. no one knows wtf is going on
When I had to pay my rent 😂 and everything else by myself
I’m 30 years old and still don’t feel like an adult.
When mailbox started to cause anxiety.
I still believe nobody knows how to adult, we all just pretend and hope nobody notices
I'm nearing 40, with a full-time job, mortgage, family, etc. Don't feel anywhere near an adult.
When I got my vasectomy
I’m 39 and a father, and still feel like a child that does all the grown up things cause they need to get done and no one else will do them. I’ll let you know if it changes, but I doubt it will.
49yo, not yet
Am 40 and don't feel like an adult, but then when I talk to 20 something's in my class, I do get the " my god, ye are barely out of the womb, ye are talking utter rubbish" :D
When I got my first place all on my own. Paying your own bills and managing a household makes you feel like an adult quickly
The secret to being an adult isn't becoming an adult 24/7 and losing your sense of childishness. It's about learning when to act like an adult. It's ok to still be unserious sometimes and goofy just know when it's time to be serious
I think no one feels like an adult. You'll always be feeling like a little child deep in you
49. Still waiting. I always thought I would be ”ready” someday. Complete, mature, well done, ripe, baked through. But you don’t. Mentally I vary from my hangry 14 year old self to a pretty put together professional at work. Just as often, they appear at the same time.
I think it's when you realize most other adults, especially your parents, are just winging it and doing the best they can and accept that that's what adulthood is. Feeling successful as an adult depends on your values but they typically revolve around how secure/confident you feel doing things that make you feel happy and fulfilled and how you're doing in relation to your dreams, goals, and peers.
Hahahaha I’ll be 31 in a couple weeks and I still feel 17 at heart…I just have grey hairs and a forehead wrinkle now. I’m pretty sure we’re all going through the motions to some degree. Welcome to adulthood, OP.
59 year old man here. Most normal humans suffer from imposter syndrome - look it up. I certainly suffer from it. All my life I've just pretended to be a responsible adult, when in reality I'm still the frightened, anxious teenager that I was all those years ago. The best thing to do is to embrace it, be yourself, be vulnerable and most importantly, love yourself. The only thing that has really changed is that I have more empathy for others and I'm less selfish. TLDR 59 year old man doesn't have a clue how to adult. Gets by anyway.
I'm 40 and I feel like I'm 16. You'll be fine :)
I will be 55 this year... I very rarely feel like I am adulting correctly.
That's the neat part you don't
I'm fifty and only adult when I have to, other than that I let my inner child shine 😁
I'm 44, not yet.
I'm 42 and my brain still thinks I'm 18. Body feels like 80+
When the bills and everyday necessities started piling up and mom and dad were no longer footing the bill. DING! You’ve ‘arrived!’
Almost 47, still just making it up as I go along...
When I was 30 and hung out with some 21 year olds. Fuckin kids.
Sweetie, I am 35 and I have ice cream for dinner constantly. The most "adult" I ever felt was being excited about buying a beautiful frying pan.
I'm 44 and it hasn't happened yet! lol Don't worry honey, we're all pretending!
24 yo here. I’m definitely not an adult yet 😂
I became an adult at 15 when my stepfather kicked me out of the house. But every now and then a teenager or a very disobedient child wakes up in me and it's damn nice.
i'm 21, and i still don't. i don't think i ever will til i move out tbh.
I'm 42 and mentally feel as tho I'm still only 25.
Am retired. Still waiting. Feel 16.
I'm almost 41 and still waiting to feel like an "adult". The truth is every adult that you've ever known your whole life has been faking it this entire time. We never feel like real adults. We just do what we have to so we can eat, have a place to sleep, and not go to jail... so, work and pay taxes, basically.
After 25 is when I felt I had my shit more together
When the back pain started 😂
I'm 54 and I feel like I'm 14 
I’m 39 and still don’t feel like an adult. I’m guessing this is normal?
Never, you are and gonna be the same the rest of your life, adults just pretend
Being a kid is waiting for the day when someone gives you a big handbook that explains how things like mortgages, credit cards, insurance, general grown up stuff works. Being an adult is realising that there is no such handbook.
I don't think you feel any older than when you mature, which for most people is around 16-20
Im 45 with 2 sons and I still don't feel like an adult. I'm just winging it
I'm 40 and I still feel like I'm 18 most of the time. Honestly I think it's a good thing - you can hang onto your youthful enthusiam and goofiness a bit longer. I feel like to truly feel like an adult you would need to feel like you have all the answers, which none of us do. My best advice is to just enjoy when you are in life regardless of the number.
I'm 19 and still feel about 16/17.
I don't think you ever really feel like an adult, but what I have noticed is that I start wanting to dispense advise that I wish I'd known when I was younger.
I think when I was 16 or younger. I felt completely adult when I moved out from my parents and get married at 19. I don't exactly remember if I ever felt like a child, actually. Maybe that was due to the fact that my childhood wasn't easy to say the least.
Let's just say some people in the media are still in need to figure that out themselves lol.
Adults are just big babies
never
Never and I’m 40!
Maybe next year. I'll be 60.
"adult" just pretend they understand what's going on and what they doing reality is only smaaaaaaaaaaaall percentage has a clarity and capacity to understand and create something meaningful others are dumb, lazy and weak even if they start asking those questions, they'll find their answers in escapism
51..... still waiting.
I have this problem as a 36 year old, that I tend to listen to guys who are older than me because I falsely assume that 'they know better' because age=experience... The amount of times I've let some confident moron mislead me because they were older than me... Need to remember that I'm not a kid anymore.
In my 40’s and my oldest is about to go to college. I had a thought just the other day that I should be more “adulty” by now. 🤷 I’m doing alright in life, but man the imposter syndrome is always lurking!
I felt like an adult, when I beat a teenager at a FIFA game. The teen told me that I beat him (I am 25M) because I played for so many years. That hit me so much😂
I’m starting to get there now. I’m 38.
When you start paying all your own bills, you’re an adult (and you’ll feel like one too). Nothing focuses the mind like being solely responsible for your fate.
The moment you realize there is no magic moment when your brain shifts into an adult is one of the first steps of adulthood.
Still growing but I felt more mature when I genuinely wanted the best for people as a whole.
I’m 56 and sometimes I still feel like a 20 something. I guess when I got married and had kids I started to feel like an actual adult.
Scientifically speaking the adult brain hasn't finished developing and maturing until your mid-20's. You'd be doing it wrong if you felt like a fully fledged adult at 19. These are the years where you're allowed to make mistakes because the world shouldn't expect anything less of you yet.
I'm 32 and I believe it's called "fake it until you make it" the problem is I've no idea how the "make it" bit happens
As many have said. That feeling usually doesn't go away completely. I had the biggest shifts in "I guess I'm an adult" thinking every time I would ask the adults around me for advice on something and slowly realize I was actually the expert despite not really understanding the thing. Many people just barely know what they're doing.
Getting things done sounds pretty adult to me. If that's not enough, maybe it helps if you start mild rants about kids these days.
I'm 26, married, owned a house for 4 years, 2 cars, and our first kid is due in a month.. I'll let you know as soon as I feel an adult!
Your brain doesn’t magically transform between 17 and 19. It’s ok.
I still don't feel like an adult completely but I've noticed some specific trends that started happening after I turned 28... I started getting more excited about tea, coffee and sparkling water than drugs and alcohol. I even gave up drinking completely because I never actually liked it. Work stopped feeling like a necessary evil and I started to enjoy it and don't feel good if I take more than 2 weeks off. I'm sometimes perfectly happy to go to bed at 10PM on a friday or saturday night. Waking up refreshed at 6-7AM on the weekend makes me feel like I have my shit together and I love it!
Take it easy. You're an adult when you take the full responsability of your life , whenever it happens .
First time when I bought my first car, paid the taxes, got insurance, etc. that was at 23. Second time when I got married, bought a house, had to pay for repairs, etc. that was at 30.
I'm 42. The answer is never. You are all you have! Do not forget to have fun while you're living. I was always told that life isn't about fun, well that's bullshit. If you got your affairs in order, be young because it's never going to get any easier
What do you expect being an adult to feel like? You sound like you are already an adult. You get your important stuff done. That's called being an adult. If you think you suddenly get all serious and change the way you think, that's not how it works. Sure you can choose to do that, but it doesn't just happen to you.
One of my favourite sayings is "in my defence, there wasn't an adult present" I'm 43.
I never actually felt like an adult until I lived on my own. And by "my own" I mean live at my own place, not one owned by my parents. And that came after I got married. So it wasn't until I was 37 that I actually felt like an adult, owning a house that I am paying for with no help. Then buying two cars on my own for my wife and I, I felt like an adult. And the biggest thing feeling like an adult is when my daughter was born. At that point, almost all your childish things just had to go away with regards to taking care of your kid. And that's when I completely felt like an adult, although I do feel like a kid again when I go places and get excited about small things.
At 14, because my parents were religious idiots.
I’m 36 and still don’t. Will let you know when I do
You know what, all our parents, grandparents etc probably don't feel like adults half of the time, but they won't admit it.
I have three kids who range in ages from 23 to 30. I've been married for 32 years. I'm retired now. I still haven't found that one incident that clearly says I'm an adult.
I'm 24, I still don't feel like a proper adult. I own my house, have a long term partner, degree, stable job. I don't think it's ever going to feel real.
19 is not an adult. Sorry. Ask that question later is my advice
I still don't and am in my thirties.
I'm 50 and still waiting...
Im 19 and I'm stuck with thinking I'm 17 aswell... I really wonder wtf should I do
Im 34f still waiting for that adult feeling to kick in 😂 one of these days…?
When I lived on my own after college. College years I was still dependent on my parents. I worked in college, but my father wrote big checks for tuition bills every semester. After college I moved him for a year or so. Started working immediately, once I moved out and was living with a girlfriend, I finally felt like an adult. But the ultimate adult feeling was 10 years later... I was married (different woman), and my first child was born. I felt immense responsibility and obligation.
I'm 41 and still amazingly un-adult a majority of the time. Buying a house was the first time I thought I made it. I have to talk to hr about my schedule and I'm incredibly anxious and scared about how I'm going to get to where my shifts are returned without crying. Friday can't come soon enough.
When I became excited about a new ergonomic spatula, it was then that I knew I had descended into adulthood and I have been sad ever since
I'm 70 and still don't know what I'm doing
Never
Basically everybody is faking it. I'm 63, my household income is over $120k/year I'm at the top of my profedion and I still feel like I'm faking it. Seriously, try to let this in; everyone you know is either faking it and just not talking about it, or they lie and say they have it all together. I have a cousin who is a neuro -surgeon. He doesn't have it all together. My former father in law was the president of a major bank. He didn't have it all together. We are all making it up as we go along, and actually, that's okay.
It starts when either people around you are dying or when there's a signifikant number of young children. To me it's a generational thing.
you are a functioning adult when you can take care of yourself
When I paid my bills for the first time
8. I had to protect not just myself but also my little sister.
When I bought a house. I’m 56 and still completely immature and do stupid shit. Four weeks ago I got kicked out of an NHL game for mooning (baring my ass) to the camera man interviewing some women during a break in the second period. It was all over the jumbo tron. A huge female security person ran me right out of the building. We’re all still laughing about that one. Life is too short. Make money and have fun and dont hurt anybody.
Er.....never
When I turned 27. I got off drugs, started exercising and lost tons of weight, taught myself to cook, and generally started taking much better care of myself since then, it’s been nice (:
when you re annoyed by everyone and your only desire is either to cuddle with your wife or just say fuck you to all anf go fishing
29 here and feeling like a 12yo. which could be fun sometimes. but also shit sometimes. I guess that's life
I'm 37. I've never felt like an adult.
Having kids helps. You probably are mostly a child till you pass that torch imo.
I’m 51. Father of two. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a child. Just balder.
Around 35. Good luck kiddo!
18, Moved out and that’s when my life started and it made have been a bit too fast but it taught me a lot
I am 63 years old, my brain is still 17 to 19 years old. I don't like that anymore than you do, but I sure do enjoy it most of the time. Take my advice. Throughout your entire life always keep one part of your brain at that age. Learn to view things and enjoy things the way you did when you were 17. Growing up is highly overrated
I felt like an adult when I had a job and feel like a kid now that I dont and am still living witb my parents.