What Does It Mean, Grown Up?

When we hear the phrase, grown up, we usually think physical, age, entered adulthood. I have been thinking about this since my mom passed away, as she created an unhealthy co-dependency. Now I find myself with having to create a budget, take on a mortgage and all that jazz. I have been thinking lately about what it means to be grown up.

For one, it means realizing the world does not revolve around you, and you are not meant to always be the center of attention in the world. You have to share the spotlight with others who are also talented etc… It means you give credit where credit is do, and you move away from being a self centered idiot. It means you don’t constantly leap before you look or jump off cliffs without a parachute. Spontaneous at times is great, but you also realize that if you are going to play the long game and be well financially etc…reckless spontaneity is not the way to go. When you take it further to maturity, you stop trying to compete with everyone else, realize you need to focus on just being the best you possible.

This also means you don’t envy when another does well, rather you celebrate it and use it as an inspiration for you own life, emulating those of ethics and integrity that do well in life, have a strong foundation of faith, of caring without enabling toxic behavior. It means you don’t spend your life playing a blame game, but rather recognize when you took a wrong turn and in that awareness you strive to not repeat those mistakes, patterns. You also realize that time, time spent with those you care about is of great value, to value what matters, and also how to manage the blessings you are given, including financial ones. You also become aware of how you speak, act and react to others, situations and life lessons you are learning, how to apply them to your life. Grown up and mature might seem like it’s a lot to process, but when you do learn to “grow up” and mature, there is a certain peace that comes with that, a confidence that can be built up from that.

Grown up, mature is not such a bad place to be, in spite of the having to deal with bills etc…it is the end of your the first part of life’s journey, so don’t be angry about it, flow with it, just flow with it. If I had done that a lot sooner I would probably be in a better position financially and maybe even in other ways. I am not going to beat myself up for mistakes made, I do repent of them, and acknowledge I have screwed up, but hopefully I won’t screw up too much from now on with this self awareness.

Amen