Maturity is the art of knowing who you are and what you want. But what does this practically amount to? Is it possible that maturity is much more simple than we would dare to imagine? I think we often like to imagine that it is a complex and beyond our reach. If it remains a difficult and unattainable ideal that we all strive towards, then we need not be disappointed when we fail and need not change anything. Maturity in large part is merely the self-confidence one gains from knowing who they are and what they want. It is far easier to search the world for our identity, jumping from one thing to the next, then it is to know who we are and have the courage to trust in that. Immaturity is the act of jumping from one thing to the next, searching for who we are. We will never mature until we know what we are rooted, that is what gives our lives meaning.
Absolute maturity is a myth. Maturity is a spectrum. Since maturity is knowing who you are and what you want, it is a spectrum rather than a line. On a line, there is a definite end, whereas a spectrum is much more complex. There will always be some aspect of ourselves that is hidden from us. Maturity is achieved when we stop jumping from one thing to the next in search of our happiness and meaning. When we are courageous enough to realize that nothing can give us the meaning and joy that we seek, outside of God. When we week our emotional security in our relationships we become co-dependent and when we seek it in pleasures we become addicts. How do you be mature without trying? Stop trying. Stop jumping from one thing to the next. It takes bravery to stand in one place and not try to garner meaning/identity from things that will either cause us to be co-dependent or addicted.
