Do most "adults" really get more mature, smarter just because we are aging (40+)? This is a question I personally have answered myself a few years back in my late thirties. During a news cast one evening last week, I heard someone say just that, as we have aged and lived through heartaches, disappointments, success, and children that we are now mature and above bullying, and foolishness. This was mentioned in light of the Romney alleged bullying incident when he was in High School. As I'm sharing my view on this, I will say that what I'm thinking about is on a larger scale overall and really has nothing to do with politics. It just happened to come up bringing this topic to the forefront of my mind to revisit and rehash. Again, do we really mature, make wise decisions just because we have gotten older. My experience in dealing with people, watching and observing, the answer is, no. Who we are at a certain preteen age is who we will ultimately always be somewhere deep in our hearts, our existence, our spirit. I truly believe that. Whether we act on those notions is another thing all together. If you were a smart mouth, wise crack kid growing up, chances are you are as an adult, also. Hopefully, you just now when the appropriate time for those attitudes are. I know of people at the age of 50 that had to spend in prison for doing serious drugs that lead to bad decisions on their part. Were these people bad kids? No, absolutely not. It would seem just the opposite proves to be the majority in this current day and time. The economy is down, people are losing their homes, cars, jobs, etc., so supposed adults are behaving like teenagers that don't know right from wrong. We have elementary children who have more common sense and morals than some grown ups, these days. It makes you wonder, who's raising who? Seriously, I was that naive most of my life with that same mentality as the reporter that commented on the bullying incident, in believing that as we get older, we get smarter, make better decisions. That is absolutely incorrect, in my opinion. The growing out of control teenagers we have in our schools and in our communities proves that point. They wouldn't be out of control if they had "adult" parents at home making wise decisions and monitoring their behavior and activities. I'm a single parent of a preteen myself, it's hard as hell I know, but it's our job to parent our children and teens. We can't go around screaming and yelling at our spouses, neighbors, family members and friends when things don't go our way or because we had a bad day at work or because we are out of work. Life was not promised to be easy, but God did promise that he had plans to prosper us and not hurt us. So, God isn't a liar. He will do just that in his time and when we allow him the time to do so in our life. He can't do those promised things if we are hurting ourselves with our behavior, acts and silliness. When we are constantly in the mix of "His things" in our life, we keep blocking our blessings because we grow impatient.That is when we mess up. Be patient and let things be for a minute. Relax, take a breath or two maybe even three and give God the chance to work in our lives. Our children deserve to see the best in us, so that one day we will look at them and see that greatness we instilled in them and smile proudly. Somehow, this may have turned into a mixed bag of views. However, it really relates back to the one...."Do we get more mature with age"? I'd like to say most of us do and it will be my promise to my child, my community, friends and family to aspire to be the kind, loving, wise and mature person God intended me to be. Like the saying states " It starts with just one, the one in the mirror". If we made this promise to ourselves and our children, the world around us would be a brighter place to live, certainly. We may not be able to solve the worlds problems, or end world hunger or create world peace, but we can make a difference in our own lives, in our own homes & work places if we want and that will be a start. It truly can begin with just ONE. Love your children, teens and young adults today. Show them that you care about what they are doing and what they are doing is important, because in reality it is important bad or good. Life will come around and things will turn around if we just believe and picture a brighter place, in the meantime....love and be kind to one another. Remember, you don't know what's going on in someone else's life, until you have walked in their shoes for awhile. Give people a break instead of breaking them down. Chose to smile and live in this reality with the rest of the world regardless of your circumstance. That's a constant reminder for myself, too. Have dinner with family tonight, no matter what it is, cereal, spam, steak & shrimp or PB& J. Watch and catch fireflies together this evening. Show your family your inner strength with just those two things, that will give them extra confidence and comfort they may be in need of.
Again, this is just a Birds View.
