Living at Home vs Living Away from Home - Essay Example

Living at Home vs. Living Away from Home Most every person attending high school wants nothing more fervently than their freedom. They want a car, to come and go as they choose and not be constantly questioned about ‘their’ business such as grades, where they are going, when they will be home and who their friends are. Many want to get as far away from their parents and home town as possible and others want the security home provides while being allowed to make their own choices, in other words, to have their cake and eat it to. Finally the day comes when they leave the nest to embark on the great adventure that is life. Nearly to a person, once they have flown, they lament about the carefree days of childhood when there were no bills to pay, were not forced to discipline themselves and if a problem arose, they could just call mom or dad and they would magically fix it. Instead of having to grudgingly get up every morning to an annoying alarm bell and eat cold pizza for breakfast, as children, mother came in, opened up the drapes then returned as often as need to gently awaken you as the smell of a hot, nutritious breakfast tempted you to life. Freedom it a two-edged sword, a fact that is generally shockingly discovered after leaving home. Living at home has its privileges but, to a teen, feels like living in a prison. The teenage years are frustrating mainly because you are thinking more in terms of an adult with each passing day but the parents apparently still think you are perpetually 12 years old. Everyone can relate to this scenario to at least some extent. Yes, having someone pay the bills, feed you and are interested in everything you do, no mater how uninterested they actually are, such as sitting through a three-hour soccer game at 7:00 am on a Saturday morning in 40 degree weather, is all very nice but at what cost? Lights out at 10:00 pm, seemingly monitoring your every move such as what television programs you can watch, having to ask to do anything no matter how innocent or ordinary such going to the store is similar to how prisoners are treated. ‘Do it this way, not that way’ when doing something a simple as stirring soup, ‘be sure to wear gloves’ when you know its cold outside and certainly never go outside predetermined geographical and ideological boundaries certainly sounds like a prison situation as seen on television, if you are allowed to watch that kind of thing. It’s no wonder teens can’t wait to fly, the parents certainly wouldn’t allow themselves to be controlled that way, what true blue freedom-loving American would? Living away from home is great but it has its downsides as well. That first month away from home is truly a liberating feeling. You can to whatever you want on a whim and have to answer to no one. You can eat ice cream for breakfast at the crack of noon when you wake, come home when the party is over for a change and watch whatever disgusting show on television you and your admittedly disgusting friend want to. You also can espouse whatever opinion you desire regardless of how un-thought-out it happens to be without reproach, at least from anyone who could take away your privileges or cross-examine you unmercifully. However, the flip-side raises its ugly head soon enough. If you get into trouble, you, not mom and dad, must figure out the remedies and to your surprise, there is no magical solution. For some, it’s something simple such as changing a tire on a rain-soaked freeway and for others, it’s more complicated such as wrecking the car and having to figure out the bus schedule. Still, for others, it may be experiencing an unwanted pregnancy alone. The safety net you took for granted is gone and nothing can prepare one for the shock of that. When you leave home, you finally understand the expression, ‘it’s a tough life.’ Learning to appreciate whatever circumstances one happens to be in is the secret to happiness. If only you could have truly appreciated home-life when you were there. Mom and dad weren’t really so bad, they were just looking after you, a sad fact that is sorely missed at times, usually the worst of times. Along with freedom comes responsibility but its still freedom, the chance to find out who you really are and dance to your own tune. Both situations have their downfall yet both have upsides which are seldom appreciated at the time. Happiness is derived from appreciating the good aspects of life, whatever life circumstances that happens to be. Nobody has the best of both worlds but within the realms of both worlds are advantages that are often overlooked because one is focusing on primarily at the irritating aspects, its human nature. Those with an optimistic outlook generally have an easier time dealing with the irritations while appreciating the goods points of a situation. One secret to happiness in life is training yourself to focus on what is positive regarding any a situation and just dealing with the negative as best you can, not spending precious time worrying about things you can’t change and attempting to change the things you can. Anyone can characterize either living at home or living away from home as being a mostly positive or mostly negative experience, it’s all in one’s state of mind. Deciding to be happy is a choice some seemingly never make. We all have met people who curse the weather, traffic, news, friends, family, circumstance etc. no matter what it may be. Living at home generally a pretty sweat deal but living away from home is as well. Both life circumstances have their upsides and downsides but what doesn’t? It’s all about perception, which all too often is genuinely realized too late to fully appreciate a given situation. Hopefully we only have to learn it once and a good time is when we are lamenting about the good ‘ole days at home. Read More