How many times have you been going full steam ahead in a relationship only to suddenly find yourself wishing your partner would act their age? Whether it is the forty-something woman with the twenty-something outfit or the thirty-something man who, running from responsibility, tries to big up himself by dating teenagers. There is a massive epidemic of immaturity going around and we’ve got to cure it. Fast!

Some say women mature faster than men. Some say men grow up kicking and screaming. There are stories to justify either theory, but why don’t we just break this all the way down. When we were kids, all we wanted was to be 18 years old so we could tell mom and dad to back off. We were so ready for the world…or so we thought. Then all of a sudden we were cast out there and realized that working for your daily bread, being responsible for feeding yourself and maybe another mouth or two wasn’t as cute as we thought it would be. Life isn’t an episode of Girlfriends or Sex in the City. Everybody doesn’t have a tight wardrobe and great dating adventures every week.

Now we have to acknowledge the truth: life was more fun when we were younger. For some, taking an occasional walk down Memory Lane quiets the ‘youth jones’ so we can move through adulthood on track. But for a growing number of adults, reliving your youth day-in and day-out is an obsession. Going out to the club, looking like you just stepped out of a music video, sporting the latest outfits to show off your assets [even when those assets start to move south] may be okay once in a while, but every weekend? Chasing honeys or showing off the ends to make the honeys chase you may seem manly, but what is the quality of the ‘ladies’ you attract? Is a quick nut worth the impending Jerry Springer moment--- ya know its comin’!

Having your own place doesn’t make you a grown up: but get one anyway, your parents want their basement back. Earning your own money doesn’t make you mature: not when you use it to run down material aspirations. Maturity means not getting tangled up in dating experiences with people who throw tantrums or punches, act impulsively, or have no idea how to sustain a true relationship. If we don’t accept this juvenile behaviour maybe it will burn itself out. Don’t entertain it; no matter how sexually gifted or how buff the front. It takes too much energy to deal with an emotional two year old.

Part of growing up is feeling comfortable in your own skin, making conscious choices and occasionally stopping to reexamine your life. Stop letting the world convince you that there is something wrong, or ‘corny’, about acting your age. You don't have to lose any of the ‘excitement’, which gets played out anyway, but you’ll gain a whole new respect for the person you are becoming and the new adventures that are in store. A little maturity goes a long way! - of