I have been thinking for awhile now, pondering on the subject maturity, wondering what it actually means to attain such a status. Questions keep pouring into my mind concerning this issue…

What is maturity? What does it entail? I have been searching for answers to satisfy such questions but as time passed and I grew older my curiosity grew even bigger. In the past I confused maturity for age, size or any form of physical development not until it dawned on me that maturity had little or nothing to do with physiological development….

When I was much younger than I am now, I had always wanted to be an adult, I wanted to live alone and basically do those things that adults do. But as I grew older, I discovered that being an adult is way more that just having fun. The truth of the matter is that not every adult has come to digest this truth, and that’s why adulthood does not connote maturity. Now what then is maturity?

Maturity is simply the tendency towards responsibility, knowing to be accountable and the capacity to handle adversity. I developed this definition from reading books on pchsycology, the bible, borrowing wisdom from experience and digging deep into my mind in meditation as I dealt with the information already available to me. Now from the definition above you would notice three key words; Responsibility, accountability and Capacity.

Let’s deal with the first word Responsibility.

What is Responsibility?

When I was much younger, I was a child; I thought and acted like one too. I wanted everything to be done for me. Basically I lived like a king, I would wake in the mourning and my breakfast was ready, I would be taken to the bath room to be bathed, even my mouth would be taken care of by my parents or guardian, and the money I had were given to me. I hated responsibility like a drunk would hate to be sober and I was not looking to ever come to that state where I would be required to take responsibility, but eventually I would. Responsibility is doing what is needed to be done. It involves identifying a problem and going ahead in lending a hand in solving such a problem. Responsibility is simply the core of maturity without which one could still be considered a child. The next key word in the definition is Accountability.

What is Accountability?

I have always wanted to be free…….go where I wanted with no questions asked or answers required. I just wanted to go where I wanted to go and return when I wanted to. Freedom was to me breaking free from the claws and hawk eye of parental monitoring. But as I grew older I began to understand the crucial importance of answering to other people especially those who occupy authority positions in my life. Giving account helps you to avoid making mistakes and even preserve your life. Most people even benefit from being accountable to people they admire or people who have more experience than they do. By entering an accountability relationship, you get to benefit and grow mentally; where it matters most when it comes to maturity. So go and belong to a group, go get a mentor, talk to an elderly person e.t.c.

Lets now consider the last word; Capacity.

What is Capacity?

Knowing what to do is not the most important in taking responsibility but knowing how to do what I needed to be done, now that’s the koko of the issue. Capacity is the ability to do what is needed to be done. Gaining or building capacity is basically exposing yourself to learning and the acquisition of skill. So go out gain or build that capacity.

Maturity is a stage of life we must all get to arrive at, because the truth of the matter is that we never get live to our full potential or we may fail to live our purpose if we don’t get to that point of maturity.