Emerging Adulthood the new Adolescence?


I'm 24 and definitely not where I thought I would be by now. I guess I figured I would be in med school in the mainland studying my little butt off or something. If you asked me when I was in high school where I would be by now I would have pictured myself in the big city, living in a really cool loft, probably working for a fashion magazine or something. I would not have pictured myself still living at home after getting my bachelors degree and waiting to get into nursing school. On the other hand, I would not have pictured some of the amazing things God is working on in my life, like working with Jr. high girls, being involved with young adults, being part of a great community and working on my relationship with Him. Sometimes when I see people who have gotten to where I wanted to be in such a short time I think wow, you really can gain the whole world and lose your soul. Yet considering all these things, what is going on with the young adults these days? Am I an anomaly whose life didn't go near where I thought it would at this point, or am I just one of the many? I read an article in the New York times this morning What is it about the 20 somethings? that addressed the issue of "Emerging Adulthood" becoming the new adolescence. Our generation seems to be going through a moratorium, postponing growing up by either prolonging education, traveling, trying different jobs, relationships, etc. Why is this? Why are we having a hard time reaching the so called milestones of adulthood? Is it because of our culture? Is it because of our parents or is it because we are privileged and have too many options? Is it good to get all of our wandering and self discovery over with before we settle down and end up with a mid-life crisis wondering how we got here? It will be interesting to see. I guess only time will tell. I do not, however, think that the government should change how they treat people in their 20's, giving us more privileges or time to grow up because we will take it and adulthood will be postponed till the 30's or 40's before we know it.