Growing Pains

You know what, I came to a sort of revelation yesterday, that maybe a lot of people have come to realize anyway.


You never really grow up.


What happens is, you learn more, you adapt more, maybe you change, but in fact, you never really do change. At a certain point in life, you just stop growing, and start living. If at that point you have not reached a certain stage where the general convention in society defines as "mature", then, well... you will never reach it.


I don't think that many of us even reach what was intended by our predecessors as "mature". Maybe close, but never quite close.


Yes, with the years, you obtain more knowledge, gain more responsibility, grow more independent; but do you, really? Is that what defines a "grown-up"? Is that what defines "mature"? Well, let me put an open question to whoever may be reading this: do you feel mature? Well, do you, punk?


I guess we really do just gain wisdom over the years, ever more so if you learn everything the hard way (my preferred course of action, or else nothing would get into my thick head). But having volumes of wisdom and knowledge does not necessarily mean mature, right?


Try it out for yourself: using Google's Image Search, using the keyword "mature" brings a lot of porn to your screen. Now is that what the 21st century society defines as mature?


So, essentially, only a part of everybody grows up, and the rest remains intact, whether it be the little kid in kindergarten, the punk from high school, or the deprived college student. And both parts define who we are, how we think and take action, and what we aspire to be. And what we aspire to be has more to do with what our little selves inside want.


So keep the little kid in you happy, he or she will save your life someway, someday.