What does it mean to grow up ? In what ways are and aren’t you grown up ? What are your feelings about this ? Prompt #9

          Many people think growing up is to put all your childhood toys away and to stop running around the playground. What does it mean to grow up ? That thought has been in my mind for a while now, and now that I think about it, to grow up means to become more mature/ responsible. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to stop playing with toys but it means you have to become responsible for your actions and be aware of what you're doing and saying.    

          Growing up means that you are starting to think less of yourself and more of others. It's when you stop depending on others and become more responsible. When you take the blame for your screw-ups and learn from your mistakes, or better yet watch what others do and learn from their mistakes. It's when you face reality, and you find a way to go through life respectfully and responsibly. When you learn how to solve your problems by talking it out rather than fighting.
         
          Growing up can also be kind of psychological if you really think about it. It's when you feel like an adult, when you feel like you can handle whatever life throws at you. When you know where you're heading and what you're doing. It's also a time where you feel like you earned enough respect to be taken as seriously as adults. It's hard to explain, it's an inside/ interior feeling that's different for many people.

          I honestly don't know if I've "grown up" mentally, I mean I think I'm more mature than some of the people in this school, but I have those moments when I act silly and childish. I hate the fact that I act so silly at times, but it's my personality and I can't change that. I've become more responsible but I still depend on other people. I don't think I've earned enough respect to be taken as seriously as an adult, I guess I could say I'm misunderstood. Some people think of me as a stupid, immature little girl stuck in a 14 year old body. And I've been asked by someone in this school if my real hair color was blonde and that got me upset. People tell me "as long as you know it's not true then it doesn't matter" well I know it's not true, I'm not stupid, it's just someones silly opinion about me but I can't help but be self-conscious about it.

           Growing up is a process, it takes time. Growing up can be physical, like getting older, or it can be mentally like maturing. Either way, everyone grows up physically and mentally. People grow up at different paces and they go through all of these phases of growing up at different times in their lives.