Rebelling against what's not expected

My mind wondered to the book "Do Hard Things" as I sat here looking through social networks. It then went back to something my dad mentioned to me that he heard someone say. "25 is the new 18. Men are now waiting until they're around 25 to get a job, get their life together, stop playing video games and having a life of their own."

I realized how true this is becoming (and not just in the lives of young men, but women, as well).

At this point in time, the only thing expected of the American teen/young adult are that they graduate from high school, and from then on until about 24 or 25 they just have their free time. They go to college, party or have a good time and lots of fun. Adults don't expect anything from them but rather let them have their fun and wait for them to grow up.

We need to realize that by not expecting anything, or much at all, from then is the sole cause of them not doing anything. Teens/young adults (myself included) are very capable of doing amazing things. They can do just about anything they set their mind to. They're young, smart and full of energy.

The day people stopped expecting hard work or maturity in this group was the day they stopped "doing" and started "having fun".

Since my goal in life isn't to be a doctor, dentist, lawyer or some other fantastic profession, I have made the choice not to go to college. That puts me in a position to be made fun of a lot; it also gives me a lot of easy ways to make excuses. I can make the choice to find something worth while to fill my time with or I can just do nothing and relax. Most people don't agree with my decision to skip college, and that's perfectly fine. Many people find it a necessity in life or a good experience, but I truly feel God called me in a different direction. Let me say this though, this choice doesn't give me the freedom to sit back and watch other people work to death. I still need to do new things, keep learning and working on my passions.

I think we need to show people what we're made of. That we aren't just lazy people that should be blown off or not have anything expected from us. The day we hit 18 we are adults and should act as such. We should put responsibilities on ourselves if nobody else will. We need to "do hard things" like Alex and Brett Harris said. We need to constantly grow and push ourselves further than we thought we could go.

We cannot just sit back and waste the best years of our life on nothingness. We can have fun but do so while we're accomplishing something. Don't just take the easy route and stay at home with mom and dad simply so you can have a limited amount of responsibility and they can pay all the bills and buy all of your food. Don't stay away from college just so you can have free time to kill before you're "expected to get a life". Don't go to college just to have fun and do stupid things just to "experience" them. Make your life have purpose and put all you have into that purpose.

All the while keeping your life pleasing to God and working on the character and person God has called you to be. Don't go with the flow of everything everyone tells you you "have to do". Live your life the way God wants, and make it have a purpose. Make goals for yourself. Push yourself too hard sometimes. Even if you fail at times, remember you at least tried, which is more than most of the teens and young adults here in America do.

You're only young once, there are many things you won't be able to do or will have the ability to do once you've gotten older. Start living your life, instead of just existing to go with the flow of the crowd. Go against the crowd! It's a lot more interesting anyway.