An Adult Is Someone Who Is Grown Up

There are two ways a person grows up. The first is a person's parents telling him or her to grow up as a young person. The parents inspire and influence him or her to make grown up choices. They set the example, teach knowledge, tell stories, and share wisdom. The parents set the path to adulthood.

The second is self-discovery. There is a moment in a person's life when he or she experiences a shock along the spine and/or in the brain. Oh, my god, I must grow up is the reaction. The moment can be an event, a tragedy, reading a book, hearing a story from another person . . . some kind of moment when he or she remembers everything that happened during self-discovery for eternity.

I grew up via self-discovery. It took place on Sat Oct 4, 2008 in Los Altos, CA. I walked to an arts faire after visiting a friend in a board game gathering inside the library. I compared the people inside the gathering and the people at the faire. There were quite a few single people who dressed like they didn't care about their lives and their appearance at the gathering. On the other hand, the people at the faire had families, or with friends and/or significant others. They dressed appropriately such that it was a social outing with other people. I was the only single person. I was a loner.

I realized I must grow up when I walked back to my car parked at the library. I crossed the street, stopped on the sidewalk, looked at the faire, and then said to myself, "Oh, my god, I must grow up". I didn't want to be the single people at the gathering. My life has been getting better. I'm wiser, stronger, calmer, and mature.

There are people younger than me who are grown up. There are people older than me who are not grown up. There is always an opportunity or a moment for people to grow up. Only time tells when a person realizes he or she must grow up.