When I used to hear the phrase “jump on a topic,” it was something I found amusing, yet I completely jumped on this topic the moment I read it. I was on my Word App almost immediately, because it felt like I was already bursting with words. I don’t think this should be a controversial topic, really, but you never know. The Ladies of Hive Community asked a valid question this week.
When we hear the phrase: “Aging is an obligation, maturing is a choice,” do you agree? Do you think aging is an obligation? Do you think maturing is optional?
First off, I’d never heard that phrase before, but whoever thought of it for sure had his or her thinking cap on. What is an obligation? Something mandatory. Something you can’t necessarily avoid. Something you cannot control.
We cannot control aging. I don’t think anyone who gained mastery of it wouldn’t abuse it in some way. Just imagine a world where people had the power to control their aging. Earth would have quite practically bursted with humans by now, but that’s not the bone of contention.
So yeah, no one can control aging. But you see, maturity is indeed a choice. Like they say, age is just a number, and it doesn’t always have to be about relationships, and what age should date what. It has a lot to do with maturity.
I’ve realized quite sadly that age almost has nothing to do with maturity. Almost. And it’s true because we all have the choice whether or not to mature. You see a boy of 15 who has younger siblings, and has been orphaned at a tender age. He has a choice to mature, step up to his new found responsibility, so he can take care of herself, and his younger ones. Or not.
You also see a guy who’s about 30 years old but still has the shallow mindedness and narrow mindedness of his adolescence. Still thinking life is something to be gambled with, and that another person is always responsible for whatever misfortune he faces. In the way he talks, the way he thinks, his priorities, and everything in between, you see immaturity glistening everywhere.
Now, this guy has refused to mature, because maturity is a mostly conscious choice. But there may be another guy who's 30 years old, or maybe of a lesser age, already taking responsibility for himself and those around him. He could afford to be like the other guy, but he chooses not to. Because maturity is a choice, and he's made his.
A person has the ability to mature at any age. A 50 year old can finally decide to be mature just about the same time a 17 year old decides to mature. Maturity is the prime state of self expression, productibility, and self awareness. You’re able to make right choices, or choices that you can at least take responsibility for. You’ve conditioned yourself to be productive. It’s a whole degree of things.
But most of all, it’s a choice.
So, yeah, I one hundred percent agree with that phrase. We have no choice to age, but maturity is a conscious and intentional decision, which a person can only condition himself to have if he truly wants to.
Images are mine.
