One of the things I appreciate most about my growing up is that I spent most of my teenage years living with other people, relatives precisely. I got a chance to experience dealing with different personalities of people, young and old. Which is why seeing this prompt about age and maturity is satisfying because I’ve dealt with people from different age brackets and they don’t act all the same. Sometimes I don’t agree that age is just a number because of how precious time is. I mean, I am in my early twenties but I can never look at my aunt who is way past 70 and say, “you’re just 75.” She is not just at that age because she did some hat trick and got there. I know how many more years I need to live to be able to get there, and it’s so much time, so age is really not just a number.
But I get why that phrase is popular. It all goes south when people who have lived more, have had some experiences, and should literally have as much wisdom as there is to offer, start acting like kids. While on the contrary, someone who is just starting life and has barely gotten any experience whatsoever compared to the other person, now becomes the one who has so much wisdom that you’d be willing to hang out around them all day just to hear them talk. It’s twisted but it’s just how unbalanced life is.
Each time I meet someone older, I know I’m expecting a lot from them. And even society itself makes us believe people are automatically wiser just because they’re older. I wouldn’t say it’s unfair to think that way, but it’s not always true. How much wisdom a person has shows in how they talk and the things they do. That’s how I draw my own conclusion. If I hang out around you and all the time you’re just saying meaningless things or you’re rash, I take it that you’re immature. Or if you’re doing things as an older person that I know I would never do even though I’m younger, then all that age you’ve accumulated is in vain.
I remember one time I was in a group project. We were brainstorming how to solve a particular problem. As usual, everyone was chipping in their own 2 cents. Then there’s this guy, apparently he was older than the rest of us, being too loud and argumentative. It was all of us trying to figure the best workaround, then there’s him insisting his own idea was the best. Someone would say something and he’d scoff, “what do you know?” And at a time he even said, “I’m older than all of you so you should listen to me.” That was just the red flag.
Invalidating other people’s opinions and ideas just because you don’t agree with them, or because you think being older gives you the final say, only shows how immature you are. A wise person listens and takes in more knowledge so that each time they open their mouth to talk, people would be impressed by the so much wisdom they have. A person can add more years as they live, but character and maturity is built and developed intentionally. Person can learn better ways to handle situations as conflicts and disagreement without throwing tantrums.
So yeah, I respect age, I respect years lived, but that doesn’t mean I automatically respect every behavior someone older than I am exhibits just because they're older. Growing old is beautiful but growing up to be matured is more beautiful.