On Independence

Some people may think that they gain their independence once they get their car or get their first job or move out of their parent's house and start to pay their bills, but I think people gain their independence little by little with all the small things that happen. Sure, when you get your first car or job or both, that's a big chunk of independence, but it's the small, seemingly insignificant things that help you form yourself and determine what kind of independent person you will be. For example, learning how to walk, learning how to eat by yourself, learning how to talk, or clean your room, do your laundry, make your bed every morning, doing chores without your parents having to tell you to. Small things like that. Independence doesn't come all at once, because if it did we wouldn't be able to handle it. We'd be afraid and depend on our parents to take care of us for the rest of our lives. All throughout our lives we're gaining pieces of our independence and hopefully, by the end, we'll have the whole thing.
The reason I bring this up is because now that I've entered a new chapter in my life, I've become to realize I won't always have my parents holding a safety net below me just in case I fall, some times I'll have to catch myself.
The problem with kids my age is that they don't realize exactly that. Someday, somehow, they will have to look out for themselves, watch their own backs. Although it does sound a bit intimidating, its the truth. Some times, hearing my peers talk amongst themselves, it frightens me, because of their naivete, thinking that they'll always have their mom or dad spoon feeding them every step of the way, through high school, through college, then right through their careers and maybe some of them will have that, but others won't.
I know kids everywhere in the United States strive for that one thing. To escape the protective nest of their parents home and get out as quickly and as young as they possibly can. Some teens have a valid reason for wanting to do that, whether it a be an abusive home or living in poverty and wanting to live a good life, but we all want the same thing. Freedom.
So, before I finish, I'll give all of you a piece of advice: take your life seriously, don't let it fly by and the next thing you know you're flipping hamburgers in McDonald's or whatever cliche fast-food restaurant you prefer. LIVE your life to fullest. Though that phrase is worn out and doesn't mean anything everyone's said it so much, I mean it now. Be young and have fun, but also realize that one day you'll have to grow up, you'll have to get a job, you'll have to pay the rent, pay the bills and become the adult that your parents raised you to be. Not to discourage you or any thing. I'm just saying--be realistic in viewing your life. You still have a long way to go before you die, might as well play the game right. Right?