5 Signs You’ve Reached Emotional Maturity

Sharon Moore June 26, 2014

In life there are many crosswords to navigate. Among the usual part of the norm are education (what degree you want to take and where you want to take it), career (what you want to pursue – employment or business), marriage (whether you’re ready to settle down and accept the responsibilities of a wife/husband), and parenthood (whether you are ready to raise children and grow a family).

But aside from these, there is one crossroad many of us miss to navigate. It is so important that it can help you make the right decisions about education, career, marriage and parenthood. It’s emotional maturity.

Emotional maturity refers to the psychological transformation from childhood into adulthood. It involves the ability to understand and manage your emotions. It has a key role in an individual’s success because primarily, emotional maturity enables you to create the life you desire. Whenever you are faced with a difficult situation, your emotional maturity is among the key factors that determine your ability to cope.

The sad thing is that emotional maturity doesn’t often come along with age. You could be 45 years old but still think and behave like a 5 year-old. You know what that means.

So how do you know you have achieved a certain level of maturity when it comes to your emotional being? Here are the top signs:

You know and believe that bad things happen to anyone.

Sometimes, life is very fair. You work hard and get rewarded. You are appreciated for your efforts, you’ve got a strong support system, and everything simply falls into place. But other times, life seems so unfair. You do the hard work but other people take the credit. They betray you, set you up for failure, and then criticise you. However, as an emotionally mature person, you understand that that’s just the way it is. There are good days, and there are bad days. There’s no perfect life, and you are not an exception to the rule. The greatest part is that with every challenge, failure and shortcoming, there are lessons to learn and opportunities to grab.

You don’t blame others for your flaws.

When your partner leaves you for someone else, would you choose to be angry at him/her all your life and regret that you’ve ever met this person? Or would you accept it, move on and continue chasing happiness? An emotionally mature person doesn’t blame anyone for the miseries they experience. Rather, they step back, look at the big picture and make a strong decision to do the right thing.

You take responsibility for your own life.

Being emotionally mature, you understand that wherever you are now and whatever you have is a result of your decisions. When something goes wrong, you know it’s because you made the wrong choice, and not because of people around you. You identify what you can do differently next time and create a plan to implement such changes.

You find grace under pressure.

Nearly every adult gets overwhelmed every now and then, especially those who are juggling with family and work challenges at the same time. But with emotional maturity comes resilience. If you always find yourself overwhelmed with a typical adult obligation, you must still be clinging into some childhood sense of helplessness. If you are emotionally mature however, it is your routine to break big tasks into small, achievable goals, set time for relaxation, and take each challenge courageously.

You are not deluded.

You know that success is earned the hard way. The future may seem very vague now but then your heart is full of hope and your mind is full of optimism that someday, your hard work will pay off. As an emotionally mature person, you also have an optimistic disposition whereby you believe you can cope with whatever life throws at you. You don’t give up easily, lose hope easily. Whilst from time to time you find yourself in despair, you know how to pick yourself up and carry on to achieve your dreams.

When you develop emotional maturity, life becomes a joy rather than a chore. But emotional maturity doesn’t evolve overnight. It takes time and effort to develop. But once you’ve gained it, emotional maturity becomes a tool that allows you to take control of your life and become the best person you can be.