Growing up means watching our parents and grandparents take on a lot of responsibility. As children, we watch from a distance as rules are set and bills are paid, making plans to be different when we finally reach adulthood. Then you become the adult, and life is about being liberated and enjoying yourself. The future feels far away. Responsibility feels far away and you feel like you could live forever. Usually, we stay in a state of young adulthood, enjoying life at our own pace, meeting new people and generally having fun until we settle down and make the decision to have a family.
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Having a family is one of the biggest steps an adult can make. Choosing to put your whole self into the welfare and happiness of other people is not an easy decision, nor is it one to be taken lightly. When children are involved, the future and your own mortality become very real. We all have big dreams and big ideas of how we want our lives to go, but children put limits and timelines onto everything without even meaning to. Children force you to live your live-in stages and milestones. First birthdays, baptisms, first sleepovers, turning into a teenager – all these stages are suddenly mapped out in front of you. One day you’re booking an alcohol-fuelled adventure with your friends, and the next you’re thinking ahead for when you newborn baby starts school. It’s terrifying.
The thing about the future is that you can plan for it, but you can’t plan for it at the same time. You can set yourself goals for buying a home, but you can’t plan for your death. You can set up savings accounts for your children and their college funds, but you can’t plan for never getting sick. There’s a lot we cannot control and death is one of them. Children make you think about the fact you need to plan for the inevitable: if there’s anything that’s certain, it’s death.
Their welfare becomes your central theme in life, and if you can ensure that your future is taken care of, you’re also ensuring that theirs is, too. You may not be able to plan for ten years ahead. You may not be able to say exactly where you will be in your life in twenty years, but you can make solid plans for when the worst happens. No one can predict the future – even the ladies with their crystal balls. Speaking to a company like asb-law.com can really help give you some guidance on a will and whether you should set up life insurance. You need to make sure your affairs are in order, especially when children are involved.
You may have spent your youth feeling invincible, feeling like a master of your universe, and you still are. But taking on the responsibility of a family means taking on the responsibility of your health, your life and your death. Don’t waste your time waiting.
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