#9 Maturity

          “He looks so mature”. “He is matured enough to decide to decide for himself”. “He has reached his maturity age”. – We have heard this sentence a lot of time and I bet 70% of high school student or 95% of college student is familiar with the word “maturity”. But I also think that most of them have not understood deeply the concept. Most of them relate “maturity” to age (most), time (long span), development full, high level), process and etc. Most of the people have failed to see “maturity” as another context, so what is maturity? Without further ado, let’s know “maturity” better.

          A lot of writers, politicians, psychologist, inventors, diplomats and etc. have tried to define maturity. Maturity for Abigail Van Buren is the ability to stick with a job until it’s finished; the ability to do a job without being supervised; the ability to carry money without spending it; and the ability to bear injustice without wanting to get even. For John MacNaughton, “maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself”. “Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values (Liebman).

          Maturity is the state or quality of being fully grown or developed; it is the state or quality of being mature (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/maturity). As define by wikipedia, maturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one's age. Maturity also encompasses being aware of the correct time and place to behave and knowing when to act appropriately, according to the situation and the culture of the society one lives in. The definition stated above was the commonly known definition of maturity.

          Maturity therefore is a stage when one has gathered enough learning in experience or in school and develop the ability to weigh things, able to differentiate right with wrong, and to choose the right thing over the right thing. We often see maturity by a person’s perspective and decisions.