7 Characteristics Of Sentimental Maturity
Feelings are more elaborate realities than emotions. Feelings include the latter, but they also have a rational component as well as an extended duration and deeper roots. Sentimental maturity can be defined as an emotional sediment fruit of experience and emotional intelligence.
Sentimental maturity is never total, but when a certain level is reached, it becomes a relatively stable characteristic of the personality. It is the fruit of personal work and for this reason, she is not very sensitive to fluctuations in events.
Sentimental maturity is not only a concept or a discourse as other psychological realities can be; it is in fact the actualized result of a practice which manifests itself in the practice itself. Thus, it is staged through different skills, different attitudes and different behaviors. Below are some of its features:
1. Self-knowledge, a characteristic of sentimental maturity
Self-knowledge is the ability we have to objectively identify the characteristics that define us. This presupposes having also developed the capacity for self-observation. It is our ability to analyze our behavior and draw conclusions from it.
Self-knowledge also allows us to predict our reactions to different situations as well as our inclinations and dislikes. It has an influence on our awareness of our actions and the identification of our motivations.
2. The search for stability
One of the characteristics of sentimental maturity is the search for stability. This should not be confused with the need to create comfort zones in which to settle in and not with the desire to be still and to cease evolving.
The search for stability is linked to the need to give continuity to our actions and to link them together. This approach is in fact opposed to dispersal. One can like to go on backpacking trips and be stable in this way of life. True instability is defined as repeating cycles in which you start something that you do not actually finish because you always move on to the next cycle.
3. Realism
Realism presupposes the ability to adapt to facts. We must be able to appreciate them as they are by trying to limit the intervention of subjectivity as much as possible. We must therefore always try to see the world as it is and not as we would like it to be or as it should be.
Realism leads to sentimental maturity and strengthens both awareness and adaptation. These are two dimensions that feed back into each other. To be realistic is not the same as stopping dreaming and having no illusions. It is in fact knowing how to differentiate what is happening in our interior from what is happening outside.
4. Multi-faceted personal protection
Another aspect in which sentimental maturity is reflected is the ability we have to explore the different dimensions that make up our life. We are a body, a mind, a creation, a thought, a development, a suffering, etc.
Often, we reduce ourselves to our professional, sentimental or family lives. It is also possible to give importance only to the suffering or the diversion by trying to hide everything else. A full life encompasses the different dimensions of being.
5. Understanding the ups and downs
When we reach sentimental maturity, we understand that the ups and downs are inherent in life. Any situation, however stable, includes errors and uncertainties, grounds for sadness or joy, efficiency or limitation.
Above all, we learn that a bad time does not mean that everything will go badly and that a good time does not mean that everything will always be fine either. We understand that all this is part of life and that it is worth living, without flight or escape.
6. Coherence between feeling, will and commitment
Self-knowledge and realism give rise to a condition that is part of sentimental maturity: consistency. In other words, we manage to do what we want by assuming the responsibilities that come with it.
In fact, there is a basic consistency between the objectives concretized by the commitments, the will to achieve them and the desire for everything to happen that way. So you should not want the life of another or the life of the past. We just have to live as we want to live by assuming the cost of our choices.
7. Self-regulation
Self-regulation is linked to the ability to modulate reactions and actions by adapting them to context and objectives. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the intensity of emotions or reactions does not turn into a personal obstacle.
Self-regulation is not synonymous with repression. It is not a question of “supporting” or overriding. The idea is to know how to express what we feel in order to understand or promote understanding and not conflict.
Human beings reach full maturity in very few aspects. Faced with these dimensions for which we will always have one more step to take, we can try to get closer each time to a state of equilibrium. If we cultivate it, our life will become fuller.
Our thoughts “Maturity is what I achieve when I no longer need to judge or blame anything or anyone for what is happening to me …
