Runkel - Choose your own adulthood: a small book about small choices that make the biggest difference

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press

Austin, Texas

www.gbgpress.com

Copyright 2016 ScreamFree Omnimedia, LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group and Kim Lance Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group and Kim Lance

Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62634-352-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62634-384-9

Part of the Tree Neutral program, which off sets the number of trees consumed in the production and printing of this book by taking proactive steps, such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used: www.treeneutral.com

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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First Edition

To my daughter, Hannah.

This book was originally written to you, and I thank you for allowing me to share it with the world.

Youre such a strong young adult already; Im just so glad I get to know you... and love you.

It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

J.K. ROWLING

CONTENTS

Conclusion:
The Most Important Choice of All

FOREWORD

H i. My name is Hannah Runkel, and my dad wrote this book for me. No, seriously. As he dropped me off at my freshman college dorm in August 2015, he handed me a leather-bound, handwritten copy of this very book. Over the course of my senior year of high school, unbeknownst to me, he had written this guide to navigate the little, but incredibly important, choices I was about to face.

I was deeply touched by my fathers gift, and Id like to tell you that I devoured his wisdom immediately. But if Im honest with you, I didnt. Its not that I didnt want to; its just that... well, college. So that bookthis booksat on my desk until November. Realizing hed probably ask me about it over the holidays, I finally cracked it open and gave it a shot.

When I first looked over the table of contents, I was torn. Invest More, Save Less? Date More, Relationshop Less? I love my dad and knew he only wanted the best for me, but these chapter titles seemed completely contrary to what Ive always heard. If nothing else, they caught my attentionand the fact that each chapter was just a few pages long didnt hurt either (again... college!) As I fell into a pattern of reading a chapter here and there, I had to admit: My dad was on to something. The more I thought about each simple choice he presented in the book, the more I could see those choices play out in my life. In fact, sometimes as I was reading, I would find a chapter that spoke almost directly to a situation I was dealing with at the time. Somehow, it felt like this wasnt just a coincidence.

Now that leather-bound book is one of my prized possessions. If I were to grab only a few things in a fire, I would grab it, my computer, my dog, and probably my Harry Potter books. Obviously my copy of this book is a little different from yours. You have nice, clean lines and a carefully chosen font, while I have to suffer through terrible handwriting and embarrassing yet adorable inside jokes. But the gist of the book is still the same. We as young adults get to choose how we enter our adulthood. That choice is dependent on a thousand smaller choices that we sometimes dont even realize were making. And those little choices, if my dad is right, might just make all the difference.

My father and I have always had a close relationship; I was always a daddys girl. This book gave me an insight into his mind, and Im so grateful for that. But it also provided me with valuable tools for self-reflection that led me to a greater understanding of my own mind as well. My dads words made the process of becoming an adult just a little bit easier to manageand I know they can do the same for you.

INTRODUCTION

Suit up.

BARNEY STINSON, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

H ello there. I'm Hal Runkel (better known as Hannah's dad), and I am honored to be among the first to say to you: Welcome to Adulthood. You may not feel like an adult, and others around you may not think of you that way for awhile, but if youre in the process of launching through high school and on to college, then you deserve a warm welcome into the world of adults. You are on a journey like no other; in many ways, its the most important journey of your life. Thats why Ive written this book for youto guide you to and through this adventurous journey. And I want to start by telling you about another book or set of books I enjoyed as a kid.

Without a doubt, my favorite books growing up were the Choose Your Own Adventure series. They were built around the idea of telling bedtime stories, with you, the reader, getting to choose different outcomes. After a few pages, you would get a choice as to how you wanted your character to proceed. If you wanted to go left down the hallway, turn to page 79! If right, go to page 43! Sometimes you were a private detective, other times a sea voyager, still others a mountain climber, doctor, astronaut, whatever.

There were so many books, with so many choices, the possibilities felt endless. You could even read the same book multiple times, but unlike the Harry Potter books my daughter has enjoyed 10 times each, the CYOA books could have different endings each time.

It was so much fun being the character in these stories and actually having some say in how the adventures turned out. For a long time, Ive thought about writing a nonfiction book in that format, but Neil Patrick Harris beat me to it. As a kid, he loved the CYOA books so much he used the format for his recent memoir. Its called Choose Your Own Autobiography, and of course, its awesome. Its structured just like the series, except in his book, you get to choose how Barney/Doogies life turns out!

Well, since I loved the books as well, I decided to follow a similar format here. This book is all about the choices that both lead you into and will determine the course of this adventure we will call adulthood. And it will be an adventure.

Here you are, launching from the adolescent nest and soaring through high school, college, and beyond. You are headed toward a life of more freedom, and more responsibility, than you have ever known. You are about to meet people from towns and counties, and maybe even countries youve never heard of, and thus be introduced to worlds of thought and ways of thinking that are wonderfully different from your own (or your parents). You are about to be exposed to more possibilities than youve ever entertained and more temptations than youve ever had to resist. Smile often and smile big. Adolescence is leaving you, and adulthood is beckoning. Its gonna be a wild ride.

For all those reasons, I hope, for your sake, you havent grown up with one of those parents who keeps saying, I cant believe my babys all grown up! Why? Well, first of all, eww. Second, your parents have actually been preparing for this day all along. Launching you into your own adventurous adulthood is the entire purpose of parenting, and now that the active liftoff phase is beginning, it should just feel... right. Yes, they will miss you dearly. And you will miss them. But you should all be thrilled youre launching. This is how its supposed to happen.