Some things I think are associated with growing up, in no particular order:
- Self-knowledge and subsequently, self-kindness
- Willingness to transcend the propensity toward black and white and live in the space between
- Accepting losses
- Accepting what is (which is often the same thing as losses)
- A willingness to stare into the meaningless of existence without reaching for distraction
- Appreciation of little things
- Ability to tolerate boredom
- Openness to being wrong - or to being only partially right
- Not knowing
- Accepting a lack of closure - of never knowing
- Willingness to make decisions and accept the consequences
- Showing up
- Making basic human decency - giving up seats to old people, being kind to mothers with screaming children on airplanes, holding doors, saying thank you to customer service - the default mode
- The ability to give time-outs to oneself, think before speaking, and not saying all the potentially terrible things one could whilst in the heat of the moment
- Delayed gratification
- Willingness to go it alone, if no one else is headed that direction
