How Mature Are You?

“Maturity.  Be able to stick with a job until it is finished.  Be able to bear an injustice without having to get even.  Be able to carry money without spending it.  Do your duty without being supervised”.
                                                                                                                                                      Ann Landers

Only 37 printed words but countless in the meaning they convey. 

After reading this how mature are you?  In some cases, maybe less than you think or maybe more than you think.  Perhaps this might even make you think about where you are.  Everything I know about maturity came to me from personal experience which includes mistakes and missteps.  I thought about how this Ann Landers saying related to me and came up with the following conclusion on her points.

I was raised with ethics that dictated my ability to do the first point on the list and that has not always been easy by any means but I don’t like to not finish what I start and don’t like to quit things even more so when someone says I can’t do something.  On a personal level, I don’t like to quit on people either but that has almost decimated me in every possible way in the past so have finally learned that sometimes you have to walk away for your survival.     

Of all of these, the second point is the one I have had to work hard to be able to do.  I think it is human nature to want resolution to instances of injustices done to us and that usually manifests itself in revenge scenarios.  From both personal experience and observations of friends and family, I have seen the devastation that sometimes occurs when we try and succeed in getting that revenge.  I have since learned that God is better equipped to handle these situations but certainly have had to ask him to give me strength to overcome my desire for revenge and calm my soul.  Several times I have personally experienced as time passed, that my being wronged was actually part of a lesson to be learned on the side of my tormenter and my involvement was essential.  Through these times even though it wasn’t apparent at the time, God was guiding me, carrying me and providing me with the opportunity to learn inner strengths I never thought I was capable of possessing. 

 

My wisdom about the third point came from being in a long term relationship with someone who was excessively and continuously a spendthrift.  Since then I vowed to never ever live beyond my means as the stress of trying to do so was almost unbearable.  As a result, I am an excellent money manager but the experience made me someone who can be quite maddening at time (even to myself) when it comes to making purchases.

 

The final point is another one that I learned growing up and has become one of the strengths in my professional career.  I have worked for pay since I was 14 and always had an interest in learning the ins and outs of any job and acquiring more experience and knowledge which is probably driven by my dislike for micromanagement and being bossed around. 

Photo Credit:
DITEC
Summer 2011
Anchorage, AK