When Is It Time To Grow Up?

In the past couple of days I've noticed an abundance of insightful notes, most of which are by people I would call my brothers. One of these notes had a question that I felt could be expanded on a bit. In the note "Breaking The Law Vol. 1: Did You See That Stop Sign," in the third paragraph Derek asks "When is it the right time to grow up?" Now a question like this can be answered in many different ways depending on who you ask. Things such as lifestyle, age, or even the people that one may hang around can have part in the result. But my question is where is the line drawn where everyone of all classifications can agree that it's time for a change?

First off I want to say that under no circumstances should people try to force change when they aren't truly ready, but maturity is something that people shouldn't have to force in the first place. Maturity is growth. Not just growth physically, but also mentally (maybe even more so). This is why when a grown ass man/woman displays kid-like qualities, it is common that their maturity is put to question.

With all of this said anyone who truly knows me knows that I have goofy side. I'll joke with anyone surrounding me as long as the situation permits. Buhh, Buhh BUT, that doesn't mean that every situation is to be made a mockery of. A lot of people nowadays are stuck in high school and just can't figure out their next move. They continue to use the same antics and recite the same jokes that were once funny as teenagers, but while they laugh at themselves they never realize that they are the only ones doing it. I believe that all of this is caused by two major issues.

The first being that they didn't have the HS career (socially) that they wanted, so they attempt to make up for lost time now. One may have never had the attention they were going for as a teenager, so now that people pay them mind they do things to pretty much state "Hey, I'm goofy...be friends with me!" OOOOK! Point Taken. The wild thing is that the people who meet you this way might find you amusing at first, but after a while they see it simply as annoying, once realizing that it not only gets deeper, but it's the only aspect to your personality.

The other major issue is simply being scared to mature. Some people feel like growing up is filled with nothing but bills and having the burden of fending for one's self. They disguise this fear with goofiness and by talking about every major change you would like to make in life w/o ever actually putting the effort into doing so. This hurts most when someone has to see a friend or a number of them go through this stage just because they may not be completely sure what they want out of life. I think that if people took the time out to speak to their friends about this (constructively not rudely), they can possibly be the x-factor in their positive change.

Overall, I think some people have a lot of soul searching to do. Just because one lifestyle is all that someone has ever known, doesn't mean it's necessarily the best lifestyle. Maturing isn't something that is forced but when it you see the signs, PAY ATTENTION! Once one gimmick stops working, pick up another one and keep it moving. Maybe then people will start to laugh with you, opposed to just looking at you.