Are your college grads getting ready to move back home?
In our Monday post, we started a list of tips for parents who are busy cleaning up their college seniors' rooms before heading off to graduation. If your boomerang kids are about to become your new housemates, here's more practical insight you can share with them:
Rely on your instincts. Listen to the advice of those you trust. But look inside for answers and find your own voice. Don’t jump at money or do what others think you should - define success on your own terms. If you feel you’re where you belong, believe in what you’re doing. Emotional discomfort can be an opportunity to grow.
Discover your passion. With our society and the job market in flux, you may have to reorder your priorities for now. Keep busy and make a contribution as a volunteer or mentor where you can use you talents and energy to be of service to others. Tap into your compassion and courage to find a larger purpose – and embrace the challenge.
Increase your resiliency. At times it may be difficult to maintain composure under trying circumstances. Take one day at a time. Develop strategies to manage stress and build your confidence. And call on your faith or spirituality. Step by step, you'll turn your hopes and dreams into reality.
Your recent grads may not be sure of what road they’re on or whether they should have taken it. Perhaps they’re having doubts or second thoughts: if only I had applied to law school, what if I had majored in engineering? It’s common and normal to have ambivalent emotions - the desire to hold on and let go, excitement and fear about the future.
The 20s are still the defining decade of adult life and your emerging adult kids are living with an unprecedented amount of uncertainty. But you have their back. Encourage them to reach deep for the resolve to face their situation squarely - they can’t help but grow from the challenges.