What makes mature people?

Is it their age?

Nah, I don’t think so – at least not entirely. I’m sure you have at least one friend or you know someone who thinks beyond their years. And I am not talking about accelerated geniuses like Mikaela Fudolig. (In case you haven’t heard her, she graduated summa cum laude with an average of 1.099 at age 16 last March at UP Diliman and is currently a Physics instructor at UP Diliman as well – yes, teaching students who are at least one year older than she, hehe!). Being a ‘smart aleck’ either is different from being ‘matured’. As for me, well, I’m 22. Relative to the average college student, I guess it’s safe to say I’m matured. I mean, come on! Can’t seven years of college instill some maturity in you? Hehe!

Is it their degree of independence?

In a way, I guess. But I think the more appropriate term for this is that pwede ka nang mag-asawa. I can’t cook a proper meal. Yes, I can fry hotdogs, eggs (whether it be a sunny-side-up or an omelet), bacon. I can whip up a special ‘fried rice’, a creamy dish of garlic potatoes. And I can cook rice the old fashion way – without the help of a rice cooker. But when it comes to ‘real’ food like sinigang, adobo, nilaga, etc. Ha! My family would die of kidney failure or UTI, if not starvation. As for ‘maintaining a house’, I guess I’m pretty okay. Living in an apartment in college has been a good training ground for me.

Is it with the amount of responsibility?

Well, definitely not only with the amount of responsibility but with how well they are carried out. Having responsibility and being responsible are two different scenarios. But I suppose one won’t get more responsibility if one is less accountable and dependable.

Is it with their experience?

I think more than anything, experience is certainly a gauge of maturity. The more you experience, the more things you learn, right? And the more things you learn, the better you are with ‘life’, right? But I’ve read somewhere that mature people don’t go pronouncing that they are matured. I guess humility also comes with the matured territory.

Am I matured then? I modestly admit I’m not. (My answer was not influenced by the last two sentences in the previous paragraph, hehe! Yes, all matured people are humble about their maturity but not all who are humble with their maturity are actually matured. Who knows, they really are not matured, hehe!) I have so much in life that I have yet to learn. Life is a continuous and constant learning process.

I’ve heard in Desperate Housewives that inside each of us is an everyday battle between good and evil. Quite, true right? But I feel it’s more like a raging battle between the child and the emerging adult in us. Maturity is a great deal of effort! There are times when I want to do something impulsive and more often than not, it’s something stupid or childish. But when I rethink my actions, I realize that such actions are not at all for the matured. You remember how when you were a kid, you are always told that you cannot always have what you want? That still very much applies until you get older! Maybe not in terms of buying which toys or eating out. But when it comes to your everyday actions or decisions, there is a constant dilemma of choosing between what you want and what is proper. It becomes more complicated – there are times when personal satisfaction is justified and when sacrifice and consideration for others is warranted. Knowing when is when, I think, is the challenge. I suppose when you always give in to your inner child, that’s when they say tumatanda ka nang paurong.