We all know that life can be difficult sometimes, and each developmental stage has its own set of hardships. However, perhaps when we reach the early periods of adulthood, we are presented with the biggest challenges.
Early adulthood is the stage where we start developing our identity, which is often a make-or-break situation. During this time, we start to realize our individuality, and we begin to make choices for ourselves and our futures. We wrote this article to prepare you for that.
Early Adulthood Challenges
There are plenty of hurdles that you will face in early adulthood, and most of them are unavoidable. The inevitability of them is a call-to-action that we must be better versions of ourselves to stand strong and develop holistically from every possible learning curve. That being said, here are some of the most common early adulthood challenges.
Physical Peak
When we reach early adulthood, our bodies are at their best possible states. While that can present itself as a benefit, it becomes a disadvantage if we’re unable to utilize our physical abilities to the best of our interests and if we fail to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We tend to use our body the most during this stage, and it can be tempting to always push it to the limit. However, this can cause chronic illnesses if we don’t give our bodies proper and adequate rest.
Wisdom Teeth
Although this next challenge seems like a minor concern, it is actually quite a pressing issue. You will soon realize it as soon as you face it. The development of wisdom teeth is rather painful, almost to a paralyzing degree that prevents us from fully functional. It’s actually quite common for people to resort to the extraction of wisdom teeth to avoid their negative impacts.
Stress
There are plenty of chronic illnesses linked to stress, and because it is during early adulthood that we face lots of challenges at once, it is also the point where we begin to develop these diseases. In fact, around 70 to 90% of adults seek professional help for stress-related concerns. That’s why it’s essential that we also develop healthy coping mechanisms to reduce stress to a manageable degree.
Separation from Parents
As we develop our individual selves, we begin to focus more on our careers to start a life of our own. Since at this point, we have lived most of our lives sheltered by our parents. Because of this, one challenge that we’re likely to face is separation from our providers. It is a learning opportunity for us to take control of ourselves and develop our autonomy. Although this can present itself with considerable concerns, gradually detaching ourselves from our parents is essential to the development of our independence.
Intimate Relationships
Early adulthood is also the stage where we start to develop our abilities to share intimacy. This is the time when we begin to explore and experiment on finding a relationship built on love. While this is also something that can be beneficial, it can become a problem because we have to share a huge part of ourselves with someone else, and it can be distressing when it’s not reciprocated. We need to ensure that our identities, beliefs, and principles are already established at this point for us not to suffer from the consequences of failed intimate relationships.
Friendship
At this point in our lives, we have already established strong friendships with people from our past, but it’s also the period where we form new ones. It can be difficult to juggle all of these relationships, especially if we’re also trying to focus on our careers and family. Be that as it may, forming friendships is vital in our growth because we need other people’s perspectives on some of our problems.
Career
It’s difficult to find the balance between practicality and passion. Some of our skills lead to high-paying jobs, while other skills don’t pay out. That’s why plenty of people often have to let go of their passion for advancing in their careers. It’s important that we still find outlets for what we love doing because this will save us from facing this conflict.
Early adulthood is a critical stage of our lives, and we must guarantee that we’re making the right choices to develop our individualities. We will inevitably commit mistakes along the way, but seeing these as learning opportunities is essential to our growth. That seems to be the only possible solution for us to create progress at this point in our lives.
