Physical and mental growth is an inevitable part of one’s life. Growing up to position ourselves at a good place in society is the ultimate motive most of us hold and has its own stars and shams. Where childhood is carefree from all miseries and mysteries, full of vitality, adolescence opens the door to delusions and the typical immature romance. Then shows up the maturity phase which brings in numerous responsibilities to fulfill and ultimately reaching for a reality check in our senescence.
The clock keeps swivelling, and unconsciously we are all keep growing up. Well, it doesn’t imply that our evolution is hindered after reaching a particular point. Since we never stop learning, we keep nurturing. Every dawn showers us with fresh challenges to face, learn and fail but keep striding, and thus, thriving.
At every phase, you come across diverse situations, mostly in the form of opportunities and threats. To make full use of the opportunities you reap is not the only adequacy here. But one must learn to do the proper SWOT Analysis. It’s all about knowing your strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. The secret ingredient in the composition of a successful individual is his ability to turn the threats to opportunities by making complete use of his strengths as well as weaknesses. Yeah, you heard it right- we can utilize weaknesses too, all it takes is acknowledging them and accepting them. Growing up intellectually teaches this skill to help us turn into a successful individual.
The carefree childhood is not so carefree
As children, we learn numerous things. Right from walking and running to discipline and satisfaction, from eating and playing to expressing ourselves and respecting others.
Where most of us spend our childhood blissfully and blithely, some witness the dark side of life at the very initial stage. The same may leave an extremely strong impression on our sanity. Examples may be the impression of fear or anger because as a child you were subjected to violence, or you were exposed to situations you weren’t mature enough to discern.
The impression of hatred towards the opposite or the same gender or towards mankind or marriage may stem from very early on in life.
Hence, though not developed physically, you tend to evolve mentally developing perceptions not required. Thus, your mindset diversifies and spreads in various directions. It can serve as a boon or bane depending on your way of approaching the same.
The conventional adolescence
Stage 2 is our teenage or adolescence where we are supposed to inculcate virtues like honesty, loyalty, humanity, and so on. These traits make us build the pillars of a better world in the days to come. Well, at this phase of life while some of us keep enjoying our childhood, to some this is the period where puberty hits them and carries them to the realm of fantasies. The teenage love story begins, stimulating a new feeling of admiration and desire. Some of you might be grinning presently as you have once been in this pure blissful bond. So recall your beautiful moments as teenage love truly leaves an indelible impact on our lives.
The ambience we are subjected to plays a great role in our adolescence and is a part of the whole process called growing up. As this is a stage where personality development begins, people around you have to do a lot with the same. For example, if you are a member of a conservative, orthodox family then you develop a habit of hiding your real feelings as you might be abashed to express them. Some become introverted because of this, and some extremely notorious by making full use of the freedom they get outside their shack.
Well, while growing up we do inculcate a lot of virtues, but few hobbies too which seem to recite a lot about our personality.
Be it the first, second or last stage, life unravels new opportunities every now and again. Hence, one must be attentive enough to seize them.
Adulthood is how you concoct it
Just like the end of spring, our teenage years also come to a halt rapidly, and we are loaded with duties. “ The woods are beautiful, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep.” Author Robert Frost in “Stopping by the woods in a snowy evening” has beautifully explained how we start valuing our commitments over the pleasures of life once we grow up.
Adulthood or the maturity phase exposes us to the real-world problems. Right from personal studies to responsibility towards the family, from personal finances to the world economy and likewise. Where few of us remain immersed in our world of delusions and destroy our career, some are capable of maintaining the balance between various relationships, studies, career, and pleasures of vitality, as one can say, following the perfect chain in the procedure of growing up. And some land in depression by the strong hit of reality.
This is also known as the “Period of Ambitions” where each one of us struggles to achieve our goals. As once you realize that you have arrived at an age where society starts reckoning your opinion seriously, you can’t repeat the mistakes you committed as a child. Thus, the fear of embarrassment, and a drive to set an example for the society, hits you together, most of the time turning you into a solely grown-up person.
Growing up till Senescence- the reality check
Senescence is not the end of life, as growing old with old friends and old memories seem just incredible. Being close to our loved one is another important aspect of growing up. Because at the last phase of life we only have our cherished ones by our side.
Amongst all the journeys being planned, we often overlook the sensibility of life. Our parents who have been taking care of us all this while, have lived their lives fully and are now growing old. They have matured their black hair to grey after gaining wisdom. No doubt, old age is the wisest but can also be the loneliest phase of life.
Thus, treat life like a video game in which if we lose once, we try harder the next time, leave no stone unturned to make it to the next level. Well, everyone is growing old but not everyone is growing up! The gist prevails… entering every new stage, we keep growing old. So live every juncture to the fullest and never give up on your dreams. Don’t keep any regrets as one day it ‘ll be too late to repair them.