"There's No Such Thing"

In John Mayer's song, No Such Thing, there is a line that states, "I just found out there's no such thing as the real world, Just a lie you've got to rise above."  When I was younger that line always confused me.  I was convinced there was a real world.  That was what Mom and Dad lived in right?  And all of those other adult people?   

Well just recently I've come up with a better understanding of this line.  I think Mayer is exactly right in that this whole concept of the real world really doesn't exist.  I mean to an extent, yes, life gets harder and we are steadily gaining more responsibility, but the actual concept that the real world is any different than the world we're currently living in is far from the truth.

Every move we make in any stage of life, effects our future.  When we're younger our parents have more control over what we do or take part in, but even then our parents' actions take part in how we will mature as an adult in this world.  Then in high school we have even more responsibility and control of our futures when we decide on a college and what we want to do in our futures.  

So to say that we don't actually enter the real world until after high school, when we get a job, or once we get married seems ridiculous to me.  I think starting out we do need guidance, and we are slowly eased into making our own decisions, but as far is our future is concerned, every step we take - whether we make it fully on our own or not - plays a role.  

As young adults (or really any one at any age) we can't wait until we enter this intangible real world to start living and pursuing our ambitions.  We can't stay inside the lines and wait for the real world and our future to come to us.  We have to work for it.  We have to dream of it.  We have to have a desire for it.  The real world is now.  We need to act like it.