Adolescence is a feeling hard to fathom, and hard to manage. The complexity of growing up just seems to get more difficult as the years go by. At ten years old as much as you’re lost within your feelings, you’re still gleaming light of positivity and cheerfulness . By the time you’re eighteen, you just feel dazed, hazed, and confused.
What is normal? And how am I supposed to feel?
These are the questions that haunt me. These are the questions that endlessly circulate through my brain every second, every minute, and every hour of every day.
It’s so hard to be stuck in a fine line between being a kid and being an adult. I feel that if one more time I hear “enjoy your youth” I’m going to go crazy.
But the true struggle- is knowing what you want and having to wait for it. But as everyone grows and experiences things at a different place, you can’t help but be curious when those goals will be met, or if you’ll ever meet them at all. This is the real difficulty of adolescence.
To grieve a situation that hasn’t even happened yet is such a strange feeling. And unfortunately I have that feeling constantly. So if you can’t fix this feeling, how can you at least cope and find peace within yourself?
Finding things you like and focusing on yourself. Over a fair course of time, I’ve learned that at times when you feel lost, you are your own worst enemy. I’ve also learned the reason for that is because you probably don’t know yourself as well as you think you do. I’m not saying to isolate away from everyone else, but taking time to figure out who you are and focusing on you is one of the best things you can do for your mental well being.
I personally have found that I like to go to lunch alone and drink a cup of tea while journaling. (Even if my journaling is just scribbled jumbles of words in my notebook), it’s a good feeling to get the overwhelming and exhausted thoughts out on paper instead of being cemented in my head. I like learning about different music, and spending time with my father.
Ms. Alexa Logsdon, a counselor at Wheeling Park High School, touched up on the subject of spending time alone when managing the struggles of growing up.
“Being okay with being by yourself is a great thing,” said Logsdon. “Being able to do that, and slow down, and be in the moment just for a little bit.”
You may learn that you in fact do enjoy organizing your room, or treating yourself to your favorite place to eat. It’s the small things that make us who we are as people, and it’s the small things that help us better learn about ourselves as we grow and pass through time.
“It’s so hard to learn how to do, but once you learn how to do it, it is so good for you,” said Logsdon.
Another key factor in finding yourself is being surrounded by the people most important to you. And if they are genuine, they’ll understand that you’re human, you are growing, and sometimes you need a little break in time to navigate your way through life.
“You’re not the only one going through this,” said Logsden
If you aren’t the kind to enjoy quiet alone time that’s okay. And that’s just the thing. You don’t have to deal with it alone. There are so many different support systems just within your reach.
“Talk to your friends, talk with your parents, talk with your teachers,” said Logsdon, “we all know and understand”.
You’re not alone. Your peers are going through the same emotions you’re trying to overcome. Your siblings, parents, grandparents and teachers have all gone through it. So just breathe, take time to yourself, and talk through your feelings. In time it’ll get easier.
