Adolescence

By Sanaa Shaikh

How do I begin to describe what being an adolescent feels like? Its terrifying, yet mesmerising at the same time. You want this period of overwhelming emotions to end, but also want it to last forever. Its a tug of war between wanting to hold on to your careless youth, and also trying to mature and grow as a human being. Being an adolescent can definitely be categorised as one of the toughest jobs on the planet, and I am sure my words resonate with every person reading this, because even if you aren’t an adolescent now, you certainly once were.

As an adolescent, you lose yourself. You make mistakes. You ponder on everything, and almost nothing. You question, you criticise, you regret; And yet, you succeed. You doubt, you cry, you hurt; but you also love. You grow, you learn, and you change. No matter what society says, dealing with adolescence is difficult, and just like every other phase in life, it doesnt come with an instruction manual to guide you.

If you really think about it, life is like a vast ocean, with waves that can be both pleasant, and deadly, and perhaps, adolescence is one of the stronger, more dangerous waves dancing in this ginormous ocean called ‘life’ (or so my adolescent mind would say). Adolescence is the bumpy start to a thrilling journey that never truly stops. Its the adventure of discovering ourselves, of finding our own identity in a sea of humans. Its about crying and laughing. Its about the pressure that kicks in; a certain need to be validated and accepted. Its about the darker, concealed and less talked about, but equally impactful and present parts of growing up.

We find ourselves joyful and ecstatic one moment, but upset and devastated the next. Life seems like rainbows and sunshines at one point, but doesnt take long to turn into a gloomy and incomplete void – a void full of inexplicable emotions, self-doubt, battles with inner demons and insecurities with no end in sight. Adolescence isnt easy. Nothing in life was meant to be easy, if I’m being completely honest. Every battle you lose to your inner demons, everytime you let insecurities get the best of you, every moment you spend under the guise of someone youre not, it only convinces you that there is no running away from this feeling of eternal doom; and you know what? There isn’t.

There really is no running away from the myriad of problems that adolescence brings along. But you can always stay, and fight. Not because society asks you to, but because you owe it to yourself. Nothing in life is permanent– neither sadness nor pain, and adolescence comes with a promise; that no matter how suffocatingly dark the journey through the tunnel is, a warm, welcoming light will always await you at the end.

By Sanaa Shaikh