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I have been invited to speak today on any subject I choose, and I have chosen to talk about maturity and how it develops, and a few instances of difficulties in the way to becoming mature.
An individual is emotionally mature when he functions in a way which is appropriate to his chronological age and to his physical maturation. That is, an individual can be mature or immature at any age. A pregnant woman I know was lying down and the fetus inside of her was quiet. When this expectant mother turned suddenly, her baby started kicking. The mother was delighted thinking that her baby changed its position, perhaps in an attempt to find a comfortable place again, or was even kicking in protest at the sudden jarring. This was a mature fetus.
A baby who cries is a mature baby. If its mother responds to its cry and gives it what it wants, either food, or touching or holding, or the sound of her voice, then the mother is mature.
A mature baby will in its own good time smile, turn over, sit up, walk, and talk-encouraged in the beneficent atmosphere developed by mother and child, working together. So that while the baby matures, its mother also matures, learning to become a more nurturing person.
However, sometimes a nurturing person tries to nurture the wrong person. I know a young woman, who is not yet a mother, but who is seriously seeking a husband. But she repeatedly finds herself attracted to men who are not mature enough for marriage, who are really emotional babies. She gives these men a lot of attention