DAY 52 – KEY ASPECT: IMMATURITY VERSUS MATURITY

It is my twenty fifth birthday today. After I blew out the candles on the cake my parent’s started to reflect back on the various stages I went through over the past two and a half decades. There were so many things I did that they were amazed about, concerned about and laughed at that made them cherish these past twenty five years.

One major aspect of my progression since the time I was born is that I have evolved into a young man who now makes decisions that are beneficial for myself, my fellow human beings and the earth. I go to work, volunteer in a local organization, try to act friendly and cooperative with other people and I am close to and involved with my friends and family. While I act this way now, I wasn’t at my best behavior when I was growing up.

My parents tell me that around the age of two I would throw tantrums if I could not get my way. While this lasted for a couple of years, my poor attitude did not end there. I spent most of my youth being annoyed at the slightest of provocations. I did not want to listen to my parents, teachers or anyone else. In the first grade I started to say mean things to other kids and became known as a bully by the entire school. I was uncooperative and did not care if my actions caused others distress. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do no matter what anyone said or the effects it had.

In high school my behavior changed after taking a psychology class. We were given a book to read about maturity. In the book it compared what an immature person is like versus a mature human being. It pointed out that an immature person thinks of himself or herself without taking into consideration other people. While I was often told that I didn’t consider the ramifications of my actions, this time it struck a chord. Seeing myself realistically as that immature person who created so many problems for myself and who caused others to feel bad finally became the difference between then and now.

Looking back at my immature youth I can now understand the uselessness of arguing with my parents instead of listening to them and trying to understand their point of view. I can now understand how I wasted my time cutting class and not trying to do my best in school. I can now see how I hurt other kids when I said the meanest things to them or did not treat the girls I dated with respect.

Adults can be just as immature as someone who is young. Is there any difference because of age when an adult yells and screams, gets into a physical altercation, says demeaning things to other people, does not want to hear someone’s point of view, pollutes the earth or thinks that they are always right. While a person can act mature in so many instances, the moments when immaturity occurs is when someone is one percent off.

Immaturity makes us ignore or rationalize what we know is poor behavior. We do not want to comprehend any pitfalls that may arise. It doesn’t matter whether it is a young child or a fully grown adult, the lack of momentary or long term insight and acknowledgement into the ramifications of our actions is the immaturity that needs to be addressed in order to change immaturity into maturity.

Life is very simple. A mature human being is someone who treats not only oneself but everyone else with kindness, dignity and respect. They show this by the uplifting words they say. They know that everyone needs a helping hand even with the mundane tasks but especially so in the most trying of times. Going out of your way not to be the creator of problems and trying to rid the world of our collective difficulties is the sign of a very mature human being.

As I look back on my life I now realize that growing up is not the same as growing into a mature person. Maturity has a direct correlation to being in tune with one’s thoughts and actions that contribute to making life better for oneself, others and the earth. The difference between immaturity and maturity is the difference between living one’s life in darkness and not seeing the entire picture or living one’s life in the brightest of lights and understanding the beautiful mosaic.