Child to a boy, boy to a man; fixed route, set time, inevitable and for everyone. Maturity on the other hand is a realization. No route, no time, no standards, no levels. It is a projection of the learning from the past into the future. Maturity accumulates throughout one’s life. You are never enough mature. But if you are mature, you are always better than before. Maturity itself will make sure that you identify it within you and utilize it; you don’t have to roam around finding it.

Life’s processes are subtle and beautiful, if we could ever stop and look at them as an outsider from a distance, we would just watch in complete awe, as if spell bound by a stunning performance by an actor in a live theatre. It amazes you, it ionizes every bit of you, and you can’t but stand up and bow.  

Maturity is a function of experiences, common, individual and then there is also a constant in this function, the value of which differs from individual to individual. My closest friend lost his father when he was in class IX and his family was left to him. A boy of class IX and a family of 5, constant in his case was death. Another friend lost his love because she could not accept in front of her parents the love for him, for him the constant is silence. I was born with a medical ailment which will die only with me, my constant is disease. The constants vary, some are heavy some are light, but they never stop you, they are all but a part of one equation of maturity. Those who are stopped by these, never mature.

Maturity is never age, it is never time, and it is never complete. It grows as you do. Maturity is not about taking the right and wrong decisions. Maturity is not about laughing at jokes that suit your age. Maturity is not what as the world refers “learning from mistakes made”. Maturity never tells you not to make mistakes; it only helps you not repeat the same mistake over and over again. But making mistakes or rather not making them is also not a measure of maturity. Mistakes will still be made, that is engrained in life. You and I can’t deny it, which is the way life is lived. Mistakes are never the end, (in some cases where mistakes do become the end, it is just incidental, not a mistake of “mistake”).

Maturity is the truth in your own eyes. Maturity is learning from the happiness in your life. Maturity is humbleness. Maturity is a helping hand. Maturity is acceptance.