Time flies - we all know that; one day we're a teenager, and the next, we can't believe how teenagers are dressing. As we move into and live our adult lives, our circumstances change; we live in a grown-up world with grown-up responsibilities, jobs, and children. These circumstances, however, don't always mean that we act like grown-ups, and they don't guarantee automatic maturity. So what does it mean to be mature?

10 Signs of Maturity

1. Integrity. Are my behaviors reflective of my values? Am I trustworthy, and consistent, and do I keep my promises?

The dictionary definition of the word Hero is, "a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities." Literature, movies, and history are full of them; they are people we look up to and idealize, they are our role models, and unfortunately, we often see them as possessing different and unattainable qualities that we are not capable of having. Being a modern-day hero, however, is not about fighting dragons, or hundreds of men singlehandedly - it's about facing odds, surviving battles (internal and external), and overcoming these challenges. They come out on the other side… more

There are times in our lives, usually through crisis or trauma, or as the end of our lives near when we're forced to confront our mortality and take a hard look at who we are, and who we've been. These life-changing events can show us what's important, and what we need to work on and change about ourselves, and they can also clear up any confusion about where we want our future to head. Wouldn't it be great though, to know these things without crisis "showing" us who we are and how we feel about ourselves and life in general?… more

Our past experiences and the people from it, play a huge part in our present perceptions and behaviors. We mustn't confuse behaviors with identity, however; the essence of who we are at our core and our existence is ultimately unchangeable; we are all valid human beings with our purposes in life. How we choose to behave, and how we react to others and certain situations, however, is what charts the course of our lives. Emotionally, most of us have old childhood wounds that have conditioned our responses into adulthood. If you find yourself re-living the past and hoping the future… more

It's true times are scary right now economically. Many of us have had to make adjustments to our budgets and lifestyles to accommodate the changes in the economy. When there are feelings of uncertainty in our lives, it's a natural response to not want to go through it alone; our desire to date and look for love can be even stronger than usual. But contrary to this emotional desire, our "intellectual" side may be telling us to put our dating life on hold while there's a recession going on. At the end of the day, however, wouldn't we all agree… more

Have you ever been in a blue mood and not known why? Or felt down and haven't been able to pull yourself out of it? It's easy these days to be overwhelmed by our circumstances and stressed about money, family, work, etc., but as "they" say, most of the time it's mind over matter! It can even "feel good" to be sad or angry sometimes, often because it's an emotion you feel comfortable and used to being in. Some of us train ourselves to expect the result of our situations to be more often negative, so instead of being surprised… more

With the recent faltering of the corporate power structure, we are now forced to re-evaluate not only our world and how it's working as a whole, but ourselves as individuals, and how we fit into it all. When the so-called foundations of our social and economic blueprints fail, we can, and should, find ourselves getting back to the basics about who we are, and how we contribute to the world. All we need to do is take a quick look around to realize we're failing as human beings on some level. While this may seem overwhelming, or "not my problem",… more

Our social and economic climates are going through great states of change these days. When such huge shifts happen, especially when they seem to be happening globally, we as a society can feel a strong and collective sense of unease. Most human beings tend to resist change, but we live in a world where everything does change constantly, so this creates a lot of conflict. The trick, of course, is to make sure we as individuals are not going through constant inner conflict, so we don't project this feeling onto the people around us; our feelings are contagious, no matter… more

We've talked a lot about how low self-esteem holds us back from the things we want to achieve and deserve in life. It can deter us from going after what we want career-wise, negatively affect our health, and it can also be a repellent when it comes to attracting the right mate, or any mate at all! Self-esteem is based on how we view our capabilities, and how we value our worth as a person. People with high self-esteem tend to be confident, positive, and secure. Because they value themselves, they're more likely to be optimistic, interact with positive people,… more