Mature?!? Who Me?

Someone called me “mature” today.  I’ve got to tell you, that has never been a word I’ve used to describe myself.  In fact, if there’s a situation needing a grown-up decision, I still look around the room to see if there’s someone capable of making the call.  The “mature” remark actually came from my yoga instructor, and there’s a good chance she was referring to my body, not my mental abilities.  It did get me thinking though. . . .

I’m pretty much done “growing up”.  Dang.  This is it.  I’ve probably already maxed out my “smartness” (is that even a word?) and I’m not going to grow up to be President (which is ok since I wasn’t even interested in politics until we personally knew one of the guys in the running).  You can ask my great-niece and nephew (yes, they are adorable!) what they want to be when they grow up and they will tell you their dreams.  They want to be like mom and dad – a farmer, a rodeo rider, a rancher, a nurse, a mom or dad (it changes!) We dream right along with them.  My dreams these days pretty much include keeping specific body parts in working order and in their proper location and trying to find really cute comfortable shoes (an oxymoron) that will keep me upright. (I’m not that old but I did fall last Saturday on a downtown sidewalk.  It was one of those slow-motion moves where my husband and son couldn’t do anything but watch!).  I read once that you can tell if you’re old when you fall down. If everyone around you laughs, you’re not old.  They are still laughing about it.  Whew.

My husband says there are stages in life dictated by age:  0-25 is youth.  You are growing up and get a pass on a lot of life decisions.  26-55 is mid-life and those decisions make it or break it.  56 and older are the you-should-have-it-together-by-now years.

I do have moments of wisdom and frankly, it always surprises me.  One moment I am patting myself on the back for being so damn insightful and then I find myself looking frantically for my phone while I’m talking on it.  (At least I haven’t searched for it using the flashlight from the phone – I did read about someone doing that!) Why are my children always around during those frantic moments?  It’s kind of like the tree-falling-in-the-forest question.  Do I still do dumb things when they aren’t around to see them?  I think we all know the answer to that.

What can I say?  Life has changed.  It’s good – in fact, life is great!   I’m probably the most content I’ve ever been.   So, it’s probably time to accept that maybe – just maybe – I’ve grown up and I’m now mature.  (I will learn to say it with a straight face!).  Hopefully that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be silly and fun-loving.  And hopefully it doesn’t mean that my body is about to spontaneously combust.  I hope that it just means that I’ve got the majority of my bad decisions behind me and maybe, just maybe, I’ve learned something along the way.

Now could you please help me up so I can find my phone?