I’m Growing Up… But No One Told Me How

 Hey teens,

crossed fingers, red nails, and a tiny wish
the world doesn’t know about yet
💫💅🏻🫶🏻
just a girl hoping, dreaming,
and growing—one day at a time. ♡

One thing I keep hearing lately is,
“You’re grown up now. Act like it.”

But let me ask—what does that even mean?

Because one moment, they expect me to take responsibility like an adult.
And the next, when I make a decision for myself, they hit me with,
“You’re still a kid, you should’ve asked.”

Like what?

This in-between space is confusing.
I’m not a kid anymore, but I don’t fully feel like an adult either.

No one told me that growing up wouldn’t feel like one big dramatic change—
But instead, like a quiet shift I wasn’t ready for.

No one told me that one day I’d stop finding cartoons funny,
Or that I’d start overthinking texts that I used to just send without a second thought.
No one told me that I’d feel guilty for resting, or anxious for not doing “enough.”

Growing up isn’t just birthdays and new responsibilities.
It’s realizing your friendships evolve.
It’s choosing silence over arguments.
It’s learning that sometimes, you’ll miss your old self—the one who didn’t carry so much weight in her thoughts.

We’ve all changed so much—
The things we once loved as kids? Just memories now.
Cartoons, bike rides, playing outside till it got dark…
Now it’s deadlines, comparison, pressure, and pretending to have it all figured out.

There was a time when we couldn’t wait to grow up.
To do whatever we wanted. To be “free.”
And now?
There are nights when I cry into my pillow and think—
“Can I just go back? Back to when things were simple?”

No one told me how this works.
No one warned me that sometimes you’ll feel lonely even when you’re surrounded by people.
Or that growing up means having to hide parts of you just to keep peace.
Or that you’ll lose people—not always because something went wrong,
but just because you’re not the same anymore.

I ask myself,
Am I growing up just because I turned a year older?
Or because society decided that now I have to meet certain expectations?
Be mature. Be smart. Be strong. Be everything all the time.

But I’m still figuring it out.
Still messing up.
Still learning how to say no without guilt,
how to be there for others but also not forget myself in the process.

And maybe that’s what growing up actually is.
Not having all the answers,
but learning how to live through the questions.

"Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others."
– Virginia Woolf

Some days, I miss being a child.
But maybe the beauty of growing up is that I’m now aware enough to miss it.
And strong enough to keep going anyway.

So no, no one told me how.
But maybe that’s because growing up is the one thing we all do... alone,
in our own way, at our own pace. It’s something we learn—with every tear, every choice, every quiet win.

And maybe—just maybe—
That’s the point.

And if you’re still figuring it out, just like me—
you’re doing it right.🫶🏻✨💫🩷

Thanks for reading this little piece of my heart.

I know growing up feels different for everyone—and honestly, no one really has it all figured out. If you’ve ever felt stuck between being a kid and an adult, you’re not alone.

💬 I’d love to hear from you—
What’s one thing about growing up that nobody told you but you had to learn the hard way?
Drop it in the comments below. Let’s grow through this together.

And if this post hit home, feel free to share it with someone who might need to hear it today. 

                                                                                                          Until next time

                                                                                                          Stay Unfiltered, Shweta💖