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What Does It Mean To Grow Up?

Introduction

Growing up is not always about physically growing up. It is the level of maturity that a person possesses and practices. Maturity develops with the passage of time and the lessons we learn from our good and bad experiences. This process is shaped by specific tools also called the 'Tools of Discipline'. Peck (1978) said in his book, 'Life is difficult' (p. 13), and the tools of discipline should be used to ease this difficulty. Personal development and growth have always been a point where people get confuse and ask if they have really grown up or not. Everybody have their own different meaning of growing up, and this difference is because of their age group, family background, education level, and friend circle or work group. We all expected, in our early age, to grow up as early as possible but never realize the real meaning of growing up. In times when we are all alone by ourselves, we think 'Are We Grown Ups?'

To me, growing up is all about developing a sense of responsibility and implementing it in all the matters of life. It is a part of nature that a person always thinks about his own feelings and insecurities, but the process of growing up slowly and gradually makes you realize that it is not just about you all the time, you have to start concentrating on your responsibilities for other people around you.

Tools of Discipline

As the author already mentioned that, life is difficult, because the process of solving problems is not an easy task and can be very painful too. In the long process of problem solving in our life, a person needs to follow some guidelines to deal with them. Good discipline comes from practicing; the more you practically implement these tools, more you will consider yourself as a disciplined person. The tools of discipline are based on four principal components:

Delaying Gratification

This is the process in which you sacrifice your comfort today in order to enjoy a benefit tomorrow. It is one of the most difficult things for a person to do. Sacrifices need patience and hard work, but people want things immediately. The ability to delay gratification gives a long term benefit and proves to be a positive sign in a person's character. Just like when I was a child, I did my home work first, so I can have my time to play later on. In short, delaying gratification has always given me a positive return.

It is a fact that delaying gratification can benefit when you foresee a return higher than your sacrifice. As it is said, 'A key element of delay of gratification is foresight' (Cheung, 2007, p. 62). For me, delayed gratification is all about my self-control. A good control of my mental and emotional feelings to work hard and sacrifice has always paid off.

Acceptance of Responsibility

It is a part of the process in growing up as well as a moral act of taking ...