Growing in maturity is a different story. It takes work to see the effects of aging through new eyes. It takes work to break from the past ways of seeing passed down to us from others from a different time and generation. While anyone can grow old, not everyone can grow mature. That takes a willingness to be aware of our past, without letting it control us. That takes openness to seeing everpresent changes and limitations as more than a sign of growing old. That takes a decided effort to see the changes and limitations as an invitation to grow in new directions, rather than to be daunted by what “we can no longer do.” Maturity is seeing the reality of our present situation and allowing ourselves to grow through them rather than to be diminished by them.
