"Second star to the right, and straight on till morning."

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"Oh I'm never gonna grow up."  Have you ever echoed these words?  If you are like me then these words are words to live by.  Many people confuse growing up with maturity.  What I want to show you today is that growing up and maturity are not necessarily the same thing.

Now it's nearly impossible to predict when someone is going to mature, and to a large extent the same can be said about growing up.  Problem arises when we begin to dictate what growing up is, and what it should look like.  Somehow growing up has taken on a whole different meaning, especially when it comes to career, family, and the like.

First and foremost, no one has a patent on growing up, nor can we fit everyone into the same mold.  What works for one is not going to work for anther.  There are people that due to circumstances beyond their control are forced to mature much faster then others.  I'm sure everyone has heard these words, "Oh just grow up."  Problem with this statement is that it is coming from someone who is trying to force their own definition of what "Grown Up" means and forcing you to fit into their mold.  Everyone is different, I think we have finally determined that to be true.  It is in those differences where everyone is going to have to discover for themselves the right time to mature and the right time to grown up.

My take on "Growing Up" is probably a little different then most.  I feel there is a time to put away childish ways, but that doesn't mean you forget what it's like to be a child,  that you don't display that child like faith, those child like dreams, and more importantly those child like qualities of carefree living.  When people grow up they seem to forget the freedom they once had as a child.  As a child you had the freedom to dream.  You always expected good things to come your way, and often because of those expectations good did come.  I always want to have those child like qualities in my life because I never want to be so jaded by life that I feel that I have to give up on those things that mean the most to me.  I matured very quickly growing up. It wasn't so much that my life dictated a need to mature, it was just that I had things that I wanted to do, and quite honestly the things that others were doing just didn't interest me.  When you discover the uniqueness of your being, then you are able to mature in ways that others can't understand.

I love having a good time, and I thoroughly enjoy a good practical joke.  I love to laugh, and I love making other people laugh.  I find that many people have forgotten how to have a good time, and this is because they feel that life is too important to surrender what you need to do for some wayward thoughts of laughter and fun.  People's focus on career, family, and storing things up for a rainy day has robbed them of the joy they could be experiencing right now, but have opted to fore go that joy until a later date.  If you can't have fun with what you are doing, then why are you doing it?  Work, although necessary to bring home the bacon, isn't supposed to be a life sentence of drudgery, and it certainly wasn't meant to suck the life out of you.  Those who feel that growing up and maturity means you can no longer be a child have really missed out on things.  If I can't have fun with what I am doing, then quite frankly I don't want to do it.

You know, you can be all grown up, you can be all mature, and you can be one miserable S.O.B.  If you only look at life as a set of expectations set up by others, and refuse to take a different path, then can you really be surprised when you begin to hate life itself?  Given the option to enjoy every minute of what you do, albeit acting like a kid every now and again, or keeping your nose to the grindstone to prove to others your worth as an employee, what would you choose?  Now if you choose to be that dedicated worker who knows only to follow the rules, not muddy up the waters, and never really do what you love, you probably will fit the definition of maturity and grown up.  But this definition will rob you of who you truly are, it will rob you of any passion you have, and it will cut years off your life.  Being a kid every now and again will do more to add a zest to your life, it will do more to free you from other's expectations, and it will make you a better person.

I'm not sure how far away the "Second Star to the Right" is, nor do I know how far I can travel until morning, but guess what?  Does it really matter?  What matters is that you let adventure be a part of your life.  What matters is that you let the kid in you come out and play from time to time.  What matters is that you look at life and you simply smile because you get to be a part of it.  I love being a kid, and I love that I still allow the kid to direct my steps on a daily basis.  I am very mature, but I also know that maturity needs to be coupled with a few things to allow balance in your life.  Either one, maturity, or being a kid, taken to an extreme can be bad, but bringing in that balance, well my lovelies, life becomes an adventure, and with each adventure comes newness of life.

Allow your dreams to take you on an adventure, and if that adventure takes you to the first, second, or even third star to the right, so be it.  It's OK to dream, it's OK to be a kid, and it's really OK to be the special unique person you are.  We need what you have, and we need it now.