maturity at best

hanging out with a whole bunch of younger people (younger like 13-16) makes me feel that i've probably changed a lot over the years. when you're 16, you probably think you've become mature and how you're considerably older and how your mindset has changed for the better etc. well, at least i felt that way when i was 16. but truth is, you haven't actually changed that much. no, i'm not saying that 16 year olds are immature, i'm just saying that there are different stages of maturity. at 13, you're probably far from mature; at 16, you're probably somewhere in the lower middle of maturity (if there even is such a scale to measure); when you come out of high school, you reach yet another level, probably upper middle. i don't know when will people become fully mature because different people have different levels of maturity and some just don't seem to reach it anyway.
what i'm saying is that being at the age of 20, i can already feel the difference in maturity from my previous self to current self. it's quite interesting to know how much more i will change over the years. i'm thinking that maturity is not just associated with age, but also your stage in life. being in secondary school and junior college is different from being in university, which is also different from when you start working, getting married, becoming a parent... so when you move on to another stage of your life, i think that's when your mindset changes along.
interesting how when we're young as kids, we don't have the capacity to think/feel for others. we don't have the capacity to empathize or put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand their perspective. like as a kid, you won't understand the pains of your parents and why they force you to do things you don't like. i guess it's still very much of a mystery to those researching on neurology to explain such mental developments since your age is not necessarily a good indicator of your mentality. also, you won't start thinking about weird things like these when you're a kid. haha. i must sound weird to even talk about all these stuff.
it's only when you look back, then you realise how you've changed. maybe that's why we are always asked to write reflections. you can look back at your past reflections and laugh at how shallow you used to be/how childish your thinking was.
maturity talk aside, i'm glad i have less school activities this week. more time to chill at home and go out with friends. probably gonna catch 'White House Down' with Yasi later(: and catch up over lunch.
till then,

J.