“Growing up” means maturing …..this happens by gaining a better understanding of the world you live in, your relationships, your goals and how to affect them.

“Getting old” often implies a negative or undesirable process, focusing on the physical and mental changes associated with aging. On the other hand, “growing old” or as I like to think of as “seasoning”, can imply a more positive and gradual process of maturation and gaining wisdom through life experiences. 

It is key to remember that no matter what happens in life they can’t take away your birthdays….

When you think about it, every birthday brings with it a new age and all the experiences that come along with it are yours forever… Some are truly magnificent and others well, such as painful adolescence are less so. 

As the saying goes..”growing old is mandatory” while “growing up is optional”. The goal (I’m told) is to grow up before we get old. The concept of becoming a grownup is not to stop playing, which is truly the quickest way to get old but rather to minimize the mistakes that you made in the aging periods. Mistakes come in all forms….they are the dues you pay for the learning gained in living life. Growing up teaches us to put down the mistakes that become a burden and to step up on them to reach higher. So, in that vein I’ll leave you with a few short words of wisdom I’ve picked up along my journey towards growing up…

* No matter how high you jump, sometimes you still land in the puddles.
* Hornets are considerable faster than a man pushing a self propelled mower.
* Not everyone is happy as a dog who loves mud puddles.
* Most of the problems you face in life come from the person you face in the mirror every day.
* Good decisions usually come from the experiences gain through bad ones.

My Mother’s Favorite….Don’t go knocking on broken doors…

If you didn’t break it, you most likely won’t fix it,
If you can’t fix it, then don’t mess with it.
They key to that door is minding your own business….

Mary L. Ferguson