| Daily Words of Wisdom |
| How long has it been since you agonized over how you would know that you had become a woman, or a man? Remember that old feeling of uncertainty? Trying to prove yourself to the world. Maybe you began smoking at that time, to look the part. Maybe it was sex you tried out to fit into an older world. In some cultures there are definite rituals they go through on birthdays, or after so many moons or seasons of your life. For those people, there is nothing to prove unless they require the new adult to walk in the wilderness or hunt on their own. For you and me in western society, many of us are still trying to prove that we've grown up. Many of us have NOT, in fact. We've gotten to the legal drinking age, we drive a car, have ten babies and hold down a job, but inside we're still frightened children and our feelings get hurt easily. |
| What is it then that determines how mature we are? What can we do to finally reach that maturity? I believe there are three main aspects of maturity that determine this. Self sacrifice, being able to accept criticism, and honoring responsibility. We hold very dear our images of ourselves, don't we? Even if that image is only in our imagination, and all facts point otherwise, we never want to be called something we don't like. Even if it's the truth. The criminal can't admit to his crimes. The trainee bristles when told a better way to perform his job. In today's world, when a man wants to play instead of show up at work, he calls in sick with a faked excuse. If he were mature, he'd attend work and sacrifice the fishing trip, or whatever it was he'd rather do. He would honor his responsibility to his employer and family before his desires. If a woman is mature, she will make sacrifices for her family. They might be letting your child have the last cookie, or staying up late to finish the laundry. It might be waiting to finish her own school until her husband can finish his training. Of course each decision is unique, a man or woman can't expect to be considered really mature until they're prepared to sacrifice, honor their responsibilities and accept well meaning criticism to become a better person. |