coping

A friend of mine recently explained to me that his thoughts had been troubled with "growing up," and how he was going to cope with it. I have often had these thoughts myself, and come to multiple conclusions. First of all, who the fuck says we have to grow up, especially any time soon? Personally, I don't want to grow up, ever. Of course that's rather difficult to avoid from a physical standpoint. But in my mind, why should I ever be any older than the 18 years I've now (somewhat miraculously) come to survive? I see no reason. I'm perfectly capable of making any necessary decision I will ever be asked to make at this point, as well as provide for myself in any necessary manner. Children are always asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I say to hell with that. Don't grow up, ever. Do exactly what you want whenever you want it every step of the way. God knows I haven't, and those are the only times I can say I truly regret. Life is too short to live the way anyone else expects you to. As far as coping with it goes, well you've simply got to convince yourself to be happy. Sometimes, people you care about are going to be disappointed with the way you've performed, or decisions you've made along the way. You've got to convince yourself that the only thing that matters is that you did what you felt was right at the time, that you put your all into it, and that in the end, you came out exactly the way you should have.