I have made the realization this year that I have some growing up to do, even though I consider myself very mature for my age. I recently had a discussion with my father about growing up and all the lessons I have learned so far this year. During the conversation, the question came up: "Do we ever really grow up?"
We often say about others, "they have some growing up to do" or "they haven't grown up yet." Although this may be true and we all need to grow up a little at some point in our lives, there is no set age that makes you grown up. It's not like you hit 27 and, boom, you're grown up now or you're all grown up. I do think that once you hit 18-years-old, you are considered an adult, therefore, I would consider you a grown up, but you're not done growing.
The reason I don't think we are ever completely grown up is that no matter your age, whether you're 20 or 65, we are all still growing, learning life lessons, and making mistakes. As people, we are always growing and changing and realizing things, therefore, I don't think we ever hit a point where we're completely grown up. I say this because I am a very open-minded person. I don't think we ever stop learning in this world, we never stop making mistakes and dealing with the consequences from them, and we never stop growing and evolving as people from those mistakes and lessons learned.
Another reason is that we all have a little child running around inside of us somewhere. I have seen all of the adults in my life act silly, make fun of stupid things, and make dumb decisions. We all have to let loose every once in a while and just not take life so seriously. I have never met a person that it is serious and adult about every situation that is thrown their way. We all have to joke and be a little childish sometimes in order to survive in life.
Life wouldn't be fun if every adult acted like a grown-up 24/7.
So, whether you're 20 and in college and having every life lesson possible thrown your way (aka me), don't stress it because when you're 60 with a family and are successful, you'll still be growing and evolving in a different way. You'll still be learning, you'll just be learning different things. You'll still be making mistakes and dealing with the consequences. And, that child inside will still be there to take the reins every once in a while.
