Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Not just another 18 year old..

No,
I don't believe that a person's behavior depends on his/her age.
I don't believe that "18" is the age when a person becomes mature.
I don't believe that when you know of someone's age to be as "18", you make speculations about their personality without even knowing teeny-tiny bit about the person.


Wise people have this absolutely familiar doctrine that says, "age brings wisdom." Do we agree with this?
On the contrary, the older I am growing, the more I am falling as an exception to this unsaid rule.

Well, age makes us more prepared to face the problems/situations. Why? coz we have comparatively lived more life and have more experience and blah blah..
But that does not mean, if the number of years survived is large, but quality life lived is tiny, you would be more wise at the end...
What is wisdom by the way??
*~*knowledge? we get that from books
*~*common sense? isn't it uncommon?
*~*opinion? But everyone have their own. So, how can a particular aged people be tagged of being wise?
*~*intelligence? No, there is no-way of measuring this virtue and I am dead sure it doesn't depend on age.
*~*how you react to a particular stimulus. No, that depends on your insticts and they don't depend on your age.
*~*understanding? Please, that does not depend on age. It more about how your brain works :-P
*~*perception? Maybe, kinda convincing, but that depends on portrayal too. Don't you think?

So the speculation is a failure, maybe I didn't get the correct meaning of the term "wisdom". Prolly thinking in the opposite sense might help.
wisdom x foolishness.
Depends on age? ha ha


Back to talking about me.
I had a pre-admission in kinder-garden and have grown up with people numerically older than me. But, have always been the good kid, counselor, giving advices etc. etc. to my peers.
Half my batch-mates [example jiggs] are already 20 [numerically], and most of the other half [example alisha] are on the verge of becoming 20 [numerically again!].
I am 18 [numerically], but at times am 8 [literally], but there are times when I behave like I am 28, maybe even 38 :-| But unlike most 18 year olds [freshly out of 12th grade], I guess I am lot more observant, verbal, analyzing, deducing, understanding, bothering, calm...and much less obsessive, angry, easy-going, thoughtless...
Does that make me any more wiser than them?
Do I actually care?

I hate it when people jump to conclusions about me depending on the number"18".
when people take me for granted coz I am just a kid [numerically].
when I place a worthy argument in front of people and they reject it, coz its not "from a wise enough person."
when people who know the kid in me, refuse to accept me as a contributing individual in serious emotional/financial/intellectual discussions.
I hate it when people care about the age....

Would like to mention Billie Burke's very relevant quote which says, "Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese." :-P

Thus,
According to me, what age reflects is, the number of years [amount of time] you have survived, ate, drunk, walked on planet earth. full-stop.
What age does not reflect is, personality, goodness, truthfulness, being genuine, bigheartedness..
And what age certainly does not reflect is, how we would react to a certain situation.


Would like to end with a thought,
Live your life, don't care about the age. And when you meet someone, care about the person, not their age [even if they are potential partners, ha ha, coz age no bar ;-)].

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, all I have to say is, don't worry about other people, their views, their judgments about you, their opnions, etc.

People don't like to think. They just accept what most people say as true. They'd rather generalise than think about something with their head. So what they say or do does not matter. What matters is what you think about yourself. And age doesn't come into picture at all. I've seen 16 year olds wiser than 40 year olds. It just depends on your attitude.

There is another aspect to age: The hormonal/endocrinal one. A particular age has bodily functions associated with them. Though it depends on the person how to handle them, they are inevitable and part of living. Thus, age has some role in mental development, though it might not necessarily do its job properly. Neither does this mean that those who haven't gone through a certain stage can't think better.

Just that the body has its way of letting you know. Instincts.

kyamaloom said...

Trying to be mature is actually being lil more immaturish. I can truly understand how you must feel at the "You're just 18" thingy. Thats just BULLSHIT, ignore them. And I'm actually about to write an entire post on this whole issue, ALOT many more aspects are still left out.

And as I always say- "I always thought or moreover knew I was old for my age" :)

Nice attempt!

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

wisdom is ones experiences in life n how much they learnt from thm...so in a way it depends on age!

Anonymous said...

i know exactly what you mean. so many silly stereotypes and no one takes you seriously, at least not as much as you'd like to

Anonymous said...

it happens..i have always been the babuy of the class... 20 years n 4 moths n i'll be a engineer.. well there are ppl 2 - 3 yrs older in my batch.. but well i have never faced this nonsense... i guess i was luckier.. i hope u dnt have to face it much too though..

cheerz..

Express said...

@ alok
Firstly, you know I dont care about the junta. Its just that no1 ever wants to be taken for granted.

Also, you say wisdom depends on attitude. That was the best part, thank-you. Also mental development n wisdom might be correlated, yes. But, don't you think simply equating the two without reasoning doesn't make any sense? But you contradicted yourself too, so we are back to square one.

If you summarize it to be insticts, I fail to see its connection with age, time of day, mental maturity, "experience" etc.

Also, I agree the post lacks the flow. But it includes all that I wanted it to include. Its just an outlet to random irritation and I didn't even frame this one, just typed whatever I felt like including :-P

Express said...

@ rohit
Its difficult to ignore when just a number is given so much importance and my caliber is under-rated. Well, have to live with it.

Also, I agree a lot of aspects are left out, and I kinda drifted away from the whole point. Adding onto it, I don't mind the "you are just 18" thing. What bugs me more is, "No, you are 18!!" followed almost instantly with "you are just 18".
I ask, how does it matter?????

Compliments from you guys mean something, thank-you.


@ gunj
Firstly, wisdom itself is such an over-rated virtue. Unwanted advise is for free and is so plenty. What you say makes sense, yea, and I secretly agree with you. But simply saying age = wisdom is what I have a problem with.

Thanks for the comment, it made me make myself clear :-)

Take care.

AG said...

heyaa
woooo

nice post gal!!!
i agree age is just a stupid thing to determine once maturity . i guess maturity comes from lives experiences and situations we r put in , ppl assume that if ur older u must gave gone thru more but thats not the case.
uv rightly put them in words:)

i knwo u personally n i cant say ur immature
well as for me i m still 13 when it comes to maturity lolzz

cheers gal
nicely written
:):)

Express said...

@ noelia
Welcome to my page.

Well, I don't know how much I would like people to take me seriously, he he. And here I am serious, coz seriousness all the time drains fun out of life. And if people take all that I say seriously, there would be massive fiascos, ha ha.
I just don't want people to take anyone, of any age for granted and jump to conclusions based on a number.

Thank-you for the comment. And as you can relate to it, it makes me feel happy!! :-) he he.
Cheers!


@ Samby
"baby of the class"!! that is my name-tag!! I will be a graduate at 19! LOL. 19 yrz 10-11 mnths or so.

About facing the nonsense, prolly I need to portray things well or something. But, I don't have too much to face though, once out of collg, I ll be 20. Then I ll be so called "wise". ha ha.

Cheers to you too.

Unknown said...

Yes, simply equating the two doesn't make sense. I meant that as you grow, your body goes through changes (caused due to instincts, I believe) and that these changes tend to bring you closer to the realities of life.

These changes, they signify stages in your life. They stimulate the brain in ways (through hormones) that forces it to follow their desires. They determine your attitude.

An example: teenagers generally above 16 years old experience angst. They hold feelings against their parents. They wish to be free, to stand on their own, to be separate entities than their parents. All this due to hormones, I think. Isn't life about standing on your own, to survive?

Express said...

@ Jiggs
Thanko!!

You can't say I am immature...hmm. Well, I don't usually act kiddish, do I? coz I can't act at-all. I just be myself, and navjyot will give you the best account of my immaturity.
Quoting him, "1 sec you are the most mature person and alls well, but then suddenly, kya pata kya hota hai, and you go all stupid and immature" :-P
Yes, thats me, he he.


@ alok
Of the 1st 2 paras, alls well.

But the example, sorry boss. Feelings towards ones parents depends on the rapport you share with them and I don't think anyone else has any right to comment on it, instinct or not, its personal and sensitive.
Life is about standing on your own, to quite some extent, but chords are always attached. Even if you breakaway, even if you create walls around yourself, even if you ignore the facts, they exist. No-one can survive alone. And successful completion of life is via reproduction, again can't be done alone, can it? :-P

We both agree to the same things, still we are revolving around one thing and not coming to the point.
Why?

Alisha said...

hmmmm.....looks like someones giving their age a hell lotta though!!!

incidentally just todayy i was discussing with my sis how i've stopped considering numerical age anymore...all i observe is a persons mental age....n thats all that matters anyway!hai na?

Unknown said...

Yeah, what you're saying makes sense.

We are revolving around a lot.


Wisdom depends not on age, but your attitude. It is improper to judge someone or their views only on the basis of age. However, age does have an indirect role to play, but its effects aren't necessarily beneficial.

I guess, that sums things up. :)

Express said...

@ alisha
True true! Thats what the post is all about! And hum-log? 20? tujhe lagta hai we even come close to the maturity levels required according the norms laid by the so-called wise?? haha!!


@ alok
Purrfecctt!! :-)