“Now the thing that I call livin’ is just being satisfied with knowin’ I got no one left to blame.” (Gordon Lightfoot, “Carefree Highway”)

I’m currently writing two books on adulthood: one to help teens make adult choices, one to help parents launch their teens into making those adult choices.

Before beginning either, I had to develop a definition of adulthood itself. What type of existence are we launching our teens into? What does adulthood look like?

Here’s a start: The beginning of Adulthood is the ability and willingness to accept full responsibility for your choices. It is the freedom of blaming no one else for the choices that have brought you here, and looking to blame no one else for the next choice you’re about to make.

That’s just the beginning, however. The arrival of Adulthood is when you actually welcome this truth of taking full responsibility, and blaming no one else, as true freedom.