Long Live The King.

I know that to most old people, I am young. But, to most young people, I am old. To me, I am just me. I am only in my twenties, and am hardly old. But, in my own right, I feel older than I ever have. Which, is an idiom in and of itself. I am older now than I was before my nap 10 minutes ago. I think I have just pondered a lot on getting older recently. Partly because the day of my birth was just last week, and partly because I feel like maybe... mentally I am getting older. I wouldn't say that I am a genius now, although that is not too far off. I just feel like in a lot of ways, I am older in my brain. I think there is a very sound difference between getting older physically, and getting older mentally. I guess one would call in maturing. I have no conception that I am far more mature than most people my age, because I will level with you, I can still get down to dirty jokes. And not even just sexual jokes, I'm talking fart jokes, wiener jokes and so on. That stuff is comedy gold when played correctly in the right venue. I have heard so many times that no matter how old men are, They are all twelve years old when corralled together. That is probably one of the truest things I have ever heard. However, I think everyone acts like they are twelve at times. Not just men. In any case, I always hesitate to use the word mature. In my mind, when I think of someone mature, I think of someone who is pretty boring. Someone who works at some fancy law firm, who carries a briefcase to work, and always wears soft off color collared shirts, and some low key patterned tie, who is always clean shaved, and has a real sexy comb over. This guy has a nice BMW and paid for it in cash. The man is never late on his bills, and has outstanding credit. His nice suburban housewife makes five-star meals every night, and they go to the gym together in matching workout suits. His house is really nice, and he has everything he wants. Including HBO subscription, and not just the three free months of it where he records as many movies as he possibly can on his DVR. LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE! This guy sounds like he has a nice life, but on the inside, he is probably dead. He only listens to jazz music, and the most excitement in his life, is a new episode of Bones, or any other chilling murder mystery he and his perfect wife watch together. While I am in no way saying this would be a bad life, I am just saying that this is someone who in my mind is mature. I would venture to say that there are probably 95% of people who will never be like this. I also don't know that anyone would really want to be that way. But at the same time, no one wants to be called immature. When I think of an immature person, I think of someone who lives with their parents at 32, plays consistent Playstation, and hasn't had a job in years. He got his girlfriend pregnant in high school, and lost track of both of them. He has never had to pay bills, and his Ford Fiesta has seen better days. I could go on and on, but I think you get it. The point is, nobody really wants to be called mature, or immature. One implying that you have no fun, the other that you are entirely irresponsible. I think that is the difference in people growing up. While it is very true that we all mature at different rates, I think all of us want to remain young at heart. The difference is, a lot of people remain young in their heads. We all have to be responsible adults at some point in our lives. We are all going to have to stop screwing around and jumping innocent girls/boys ships for a night. We are all gonna have to start working a job that actually pays enough money to cover  house and car payment, insurance, food, and everything else involved. We aren't always going to be able to play Xbox live during the hours of the day we are supposed to be in school. And at the end of the day, who would want to do that anyway? At the same time, we aren't all going to have to give up our love for metal music, we aren't going to have to stop watching fun movies, and going on some kind of risky adventure. I think that there is a medium between the two. And that is where the true "maturity" lies. If you can honestly think that you would never want to settle down, get married, have kids, and start a life, you're a liar. Whether or not that is in 6 months or ten years, is entirely irrelevant. One day, we will all grow up. Some just sooner than others. So, as your birthdays come and go, you may be getting older physically and mentally, but you can always stay young at heart. I'm just glad we celebrate birthdays, and not conception days. Cause that has an entirely different connotation. A really uncomfortable one.