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I decided to do a little research on how our thinking changes as we mature. Now, maturity doesn’t necessarily come with age. It should … but it doesn’t. I once read … “Maturity isn’t proportional to age. Some people develop early, some develop late, and some never develop at all.” The definition of maturity is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally “learned” rather than instinctive. You would hope as you grow older you would grow wiser … but, as Ann Landers once said, “Maturity isn’t a product of growing older, it’s a product of growing wiser.”
I feel we can learn from all ages. A 5-year-old is a great teacher of the power of persistence. They don’t seem to be able to accept the word, NO! They just think they haven’t explained it well enough to get us to say “YES”, so they keep at it … that is a great lesson for salespeople.
We can learn a lot from millennials. They like for people to “Get to the point fast,” which can save us both time and money. They have been conditioned for prompt feedback through all their social media interactions. They understand the power of social media and having to change does not challenge them ... they upgrade technical devices and are using new “apps” all the time. Maturity is not measured by age, it is measured by experience. You will find through experience:
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered … not yelled.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Letting the cat out-of-the-bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in.
Experts have found that as people mature, they …
lose their need to be perfect every day. They have learned it is more important to be human and happy, than perfect and sad.
appreciate the little blessings in life.
found that a patient listener learns a lot from the people around them.
learned how to focus on what really matters rather than stress over things beyond their control.
found that if you aren’t happy with the way things are going, it’s okay to reinvent yourself.
don’t care as much about what others think about them. They understand the judgment of others isn’t fatal.
understand there is no better way to learn than by failing. As a result, they have a higher sense of self-worth and they don’t sell themselves short because of one error, mistake or blunder. They move on knowing the experience will help them to make better choices the next time.
Success in life comes from constantly seeking knowledge from others. Maturity comes by “applying” what others have learned who have travelled down that path before you … therefore, maturity is a choice.