For some people, their teen years made up the best years of their life.
For others, they couldn’t wait to get away from being a teenager.
Those approaching or stuck in their teen years may wonder if life gets better.
The good news is that it does.
Here are 10 reasons life gets better after the teen years.
Does Life Get Better After Teenage Years? (10 Reasons It Can)
1. Driving Ability
You start to learn how to drive while you’re a teenager.
Once you get past your teen years, however, you’re finally able to hit the road.
As long as you have some money, you can keep fueling up your car and exploring the roads.
If you want to visit your friends, then you have the means to.
If you want to drive to the beach, then you can.
Once you’re out of your teen years, you can drive when and where you want.
It also means you become less reliant on your parents.
If you only have one family car, then you need to share it.
That means you might miss out on an opportunity to spend time with friends because you can’t drive to them.
When you’re out of your teen years and have your own car, that isn’t a problem anymore.
2. New Friends
When you’re a teenager, you’re stuck with the friends in your immediate community.
Whether it’s your school, after-school activities, or family friends, your scope of the world is small.
That means your selection of friends is also small.
If you don’t find anyone who shares your interests or values, then it can be disheartening.
The good news is that once you’re out of the house and no longer a teenager, you have tons of opportunities to meet new people and friends.
The most common place to meet new friends is at college.
These are a bunch of other peers of similar age with the same goals that you have.
You all want to further your education and refine your skills to have successful careers.
There are also tons of different organizations that you can join to further increase the number of people you meet.
The more people you meet, the more likely you are to find new friends.
Having a supportive group of friends who share your interests and values can vastly improve your life.
It can make life after your teen years a lot better.
3. Early Career
The years immediately after your teenage ones are an especially exciting time.
Whether you go to college or not, you’re in the beginning stages of your career.
For many people, it’s the first time they start earning a paycheck.
While the work may not be that enjoyable, the paycheck certainly is.
Those who are lucky enough to land a job doing something they love or have an interest in will have an even more exciting time.
Not only do they get paid for doing something they’re passionate about, but they also look forward to going to work.
Being in the early stages of your career is an enjoyable time because you’re learning so much.
It’s okay if you don’t know everything right off the bat.
The world is fresh and new and full of opportunities.
As you progress in your years and through your career, you will unlock even more opportunities and chances at higher pay rates.
You can find value in your work and feel a sense of accomplishment when you finish the workday.
4. Less Drama
The teen years are fraught with drama.
Whether it’s relationship drama, clique drama, or other types of drama, it can plague a teenager’s life.
The good news is that tends to go away once you leave your teenage years and enter adulthood.
Adults are typically too busy or too tired to start drama.
While some certainly do, it’s a lot easier to handle as an adult.
You can even walk away and ignore it all instead of trapping yourself in it like you would as a teenager.
The kind of drama you encounter as an adult tends to be higher stakes, too.
It’s something the community faces together if not the country as a whole.
Petty drama is something you can involve yourself in by choice.
You always have the choice to walk away from it and leave it behind you.
When you leave your teen years, you can expect less petty drama.
5. Your Own Space
As a teenager, you’re stuck at home with your parents and siblings.
It can sometimes feel cramped, even in larger homes.
With everyone’s schedules and activities, it can feel like life is constantly on the go.
The great thing about not being a teenager is that it allows you to have your own space.
Whether you live in an apartment or dorm room or even your own home, you finally get your own place.
Even if you have a roommate, you still get far more space as an adult than you did as a teenager.
Better than that, you’re able to decorate your space how you want.
If you want to go all-out with your Halloween or Christmas decorations, then you can.
If you want to hang nerdy posters on the wall, then you can.
No one is stopping you.
That also means you can do what you want in your space.
If you want to walk around naked, then you can.
If you want to go braless or not wear makeup, then you’re free to make that choice.
Having your own living space finally gives you the freedom that you lacked as a teenager.
For many teenagers, this alone can make life a lot better after their teen years are over.
6. Cook Your Own Food
Another point of contention among teenagers is their diet.
When living at home, they have to eat what their parents make.
While this may not be a problem, the inability to choose or eat snacks might.
After you move out and start living your own life, you’re able to make the kind of foods that you’ve always wanted to eat.
It’s the perfect time to try different food types and diets.
If you’ve always been curious about vegan or vegetarian diets, then you’ll find it quite affordable.
For many young adults and older adults, being able to choose your own diet means you can eat as poorly or cleanly as you want.
If you want snacks, then you can run to the store and get whatever you’re craving.
If you want pizza, then you can order it at odd hours of the night.
It’s also a great time to learn how to cook if you haven’t already.
Being able to cook delicious dishes that you enjoy can improve your life considerably.
Not only is there a sense of satisfaction, but you also nourish yourself through your own hard work.
Life becomes better after your teen years because you can cook your own meals and eat the types of diets that you have an interest in.
7. No Shame About Who You Date
Another amazing aspect of life after teenagerhood is that there isn’t any pressure on who you date.
In high school, you might have felt compelled to date a certain person or certain type of person because of peer pressure.
Even your parents may have applied some pressure for you to go out with certain people.
That isn’t the case once you leave home and enter your young adult and adult years.
You can date anyone you’re actually interested in.
There isn’t any shame or pressure.
You’re able to do what you want on the date.
You’re not restricted by a curfew or because your parents need to pick you up at a certain time.
You can stay out all night with your date or end it early.
You’re also able to get into bars and clubs without having to sneak in or use a fake ID.
The world of dating opens up once you leave your teen years.
8. Hormones Calm Down
Teenagerhood comprises the stages of puberty.
That means your body, mental health, and emotional health are all going through massive changes.
Some may develop more than others, but everyone is struggling with the release of hormones during puberty.
It can lead to problems.
It can lead to emotional outbursts of sadness and anger.
Hormones are difficult, particularly during puberty.
The good news is that as you grow older, your hormones become less efficient.
While this also means you start to see signs of aging, you won’t have to worry about extreme cases of emotional outbursts or other hormone-induced behavior.
For some people, once they mature out of puberty, they find a lot of happiness.
They’re calmer and surer of themselves.
At the very least, the hormones you experience during puberty will decrease and make rational thinking and behavior a lot easier.
9. New Experiences
As a teenager, you’re only able to enjoy a few experiences.
Your family usually dictates what those experiences are.
Your school and your friends dictate the other experiences.
Since there’s only so much you’re allowed to do as a teenager, that’s a limited number of experiences that you can have.
That number decreases if you live in a small town or come from a family that can’t afford vacations every year.
The great thing about growing past your teen years is that new experiences are always right around the corner.
Part of being an adult means there are some things you need to do and some things that you can choose to do.
You need to find a job if you want to live on your own, for example.
You can choose to go hiking in a new park nearby.
You may not have been able to choose to go hiking as a teenager.
Maybe you didn’t have a car, gear, or the money to get there.
As an adult, you’re in charge of your funds, time, and decisions.
You can decide to go hiking and have a new experience.
Once you’re an adult, the world opens up to you.
You’re able to have far more new experiences as an adult than you would as a teenager.
10. No More High School Labels
One of the biggest problems with the teen years is the labels everyone has in high school.
There’s the nerds, the geeks, the jocks, the popular girls, and all the new labels that everyone uses.
Those labels are harmful and can cause a lot of anxiety and depression.
The good news is that they don’t follow you outside of teenagerhood.
Once you leave high school, there’s a good chance you’ll never see most of those people again.
You don’t even need to attend the high school reunion if you don’t want to.
The label they forced on you during high school fades away, too.
You’re able to become who you choose to be.
While you’ll always experience some form of a clique at work or social gatherings, you won’t experience the same prevalence of labeling as in high school.
You’re able to define who you are instead.
For many teenagers going into adulthood, this is a freeing experience.
How To Make The Most Of Your Teen years
While life does get better after your teen years, there are a few things you can do to make the most of them.
Preparing for adulthood will ensure you can become a successful adult rather than one who longs for the simplicity of their teen years.
Here are a few tips you can use to make the most of your teen years.
1. Become Comfortable Working In Groups
While you may feel that working on a group project in high school is the worst, it’s something you’re going to have to get used to.
Life is about working in groups.
Even if you don’t find yourself a part of group projects in your career, you’ll likely be in a relationship at some point.
That’s a group effort, too.
It can also help you with your friends.
It’ll teach you how to give and take.
A valuable group member is someone who takes responsibility for their part of the project.
They can voice their opinions without making others feel silly about sharing their own.
They can also keep everyone motivated about completing the goal.
If you can hone these skills as a teenager, then you’ll have a lot of success later in life.
To do this, you’ll want to try and participate in various group activities.
Whether it’s joining a high school student organization or even starting one, there are plenty of opportunities to work as a group.
2. Practice Good Grooming
While you don’t need to keep up with the latest fashion trends, it’s a good idea to know how to dress and groom yourself.
Keeping track of when you need a haircut, how to make an appointment at the dentist, and what types of items you need to keep yourself clean are all important.
When you’re on your own, it will be up to you to do these things for yourself.
A polished appearance, or at least one that looks like you have some respect for yourself, is vital to succeeding as an adult.
Others won’t take you seriously otherwise.
It will be difficult to land a job or find a partner.
Even friends may not want to hang around you too often if you don’t shower or brush your teeth.
Keeping up with your grooming is an important habit to develop while you’re a teenager.
3. Pursue Your Interests
In a world that emphasizes going to work to earn a living, you need to make sure that it’s something you love.
Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
If you don’t have the skills to do the job, then you need to go to school or find someone who can mentor you.
If you find that the actual field isn’t that interesting, then it’s okay to change your mind about it.
You don’t want to get stuck doing something that you dislike for the better part of your life.
Part of figuring out what interests you is trying new things.
Sign up for different opportunities at your high school and see what you enjoy.
Conclusion
While there are a lot of perks of being a teenager, the greater part of life waits for when you leave high school and enter your young adult years.
New experiences, new friends, and the ability to define yourself make adulthood worth any struggle it may have taken to get there.
Being a teenager is only a small part of your life.
The rest of your life is waiting for you.
NEXT: I Don’t Like My Friends Anymore (Reasons, What To Do)