LAURA CARTLEDGE: I've realised that life just happens while you're busy with other plans

Adulthood is not the cape-wearing planet-saving world I thought it would be.
Laura CartledgeLaura Cartledge
Laura Cartledge

When you are little grown-ups seem to have so much freedom.

They decide their own bedtimes, for example.

To my young eyes it seemed they were almost like superheroes.

With powers including liking coffee, not minding sprouts and being able to drive.

All of which was a bit baffling at the time.

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And to be honest I still haven’t advanced to drinking what I describe as “smoke in a mug.”

But I digress.

My point is I thought being an adult would come with the ability to do – something.

Which excited me as I’ve always wanted to make a difference.

Not necessarily in a Miss World way.

But I knew I had to wait. There was homework to do.

So I bided my time.

Bore awful haircuts and delightful Laura Ashley dresses.

Always waiting for that chance.

Now, while I have taken many of the steps towards qualifying as an adult – I have my own car, a job and pay rent – I am still standing on the brink of full responsibility.

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And it has dawned on me that right now is perhaps THE time.

That drive to do something special hasn’t left me.

But the clincher is I am just not sure what that something is.

If you have any idea, please tell me.

To paraphrase Shakespeare it seems that ‘now is the age of our discontent’.

And talking to others in their mid-20s it appears I am not alone.

Most frustrating is there is no real reason for it.

I am so lucky.

With brilliant friends, family, work and partner.

Calling it a quarter-life crisis, in a way, has a reassuring ring to it.

Mainly because it holds the possibility of me one day getting a letter from the queen.

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