Our human brain is not fully developed until the age of 25.
From a young age we develop a story from what we tell ourselves.
It could be what someone said that made us believe we are not good enough, smart enough, courageous enough and many more ideas. As human beings it is very easy to make up stories in our heads consciously or unconsciously and believe what others say to us or about us.
We can easily become reactive in life. In this case we can come from many different ages even as an adult. A four year old may say they do not like something. An eight year old may say they do not have to do something when asked. A twelve year old may roll their eyes and think you do not know anything. A twenty year old may think they already know everything and you do not know what you are talking about. It all depends on the level of maturity and mindfulness as an adult to be responsive or reactionary. The real trick is to come from and adult conversation as an adult.
So, what does an adult look like? As it seems common sense to come from this place and many do not.
A mature adult is responsible, respectful, considerate, listens, shares, has integrity with their word and is not in the I/ego space at all times. They will see all sides and come from facts verses stories. They will research and investigate situations to get to the core truth. There will be a dialogue with others verses a monologue with oneself. They do not gossip nor do they have time for this.
The exceptional person is someone that follows through with their word, listens to others fully and has insight on how to grow and create solutions.
The reason why most adults do not live this way is that we are built into a program.. what we are told and what we tell ourselves creates the foundation for nearly every person and situation we come in contact with in the future. We may not know we are doing this. Until we hold ourselves and others accountable for their actions and measurable results, many will try to get away with what they can. This is only being human. Humans have two sides and if you ask most people what kind of world they want to live in they will most likely say words like love, peace, freedom, joy, bliss and more. There is the other side of this which is having to be right, ego, manipulation and survival. We can not have both so it is important to truly look at ourselves and where we are coming from.
Being mindful in life and honestly seeing what stories we are telling ourselves and what age range we are conversing at will allow us to grow and develop into mature adults if we choose to.