its funny how i need you when i'm broken, the rest of the time i think that i'm alright. the streetlights fade from view as i run away LATEST - PREVIOUS - NEXT - ARCHIVES February 14th, 2005 - What's my Age again?          When you're a kid, having fun is all that matters. When you're a teenager, having fun is still important. As long as you're a youth, there's nothing wrong with having fun, and lots of it. But there seems to be some invisible line that you cross when you hit your 20's, when you become an adult. All of a sudden, you're not allowed to have fun anymore without being labeled 'immature'. Suddenly everybody expects you to be this perfectly serious, 'mature' and 'grown up' person at all times. I'm 23 years old. I'm told to act my age. As if there's some certain, exact way that a 23 year old is supposed to act. Will that change once I hit 24? I guess I won't be able to act like a 23 year old at that point. My personality is naturally inclined towards goofing around. That's just who I am. I like having fun and being silly. Sometimes that gets me labeled as being immature. If that's the only way I knew how to act, and didn't know how to be serious when it's appropriate, then yes, I can see that label having some weight to it. But that's not the case. If you ask my close friends, they know that I can be very serious when I need to be. I know how to be 'mature' when it's called for. But if people expect me to be somber and reserved - assuming that's what maturity means, which I don't agree with - all of the time, then I'm afraid I won't be living up to those expectations. Maturity doesn't mean having less fun. Maturity means knowing when a certain behaviour is appropriate, and being able to act in that manner when called upon to do so. If everybody around you is having fun and goofing off, there's nothing wrong with joining in and being a goof yourself. Or if there's no obvious reason to be serious, why act that way if you don't feel like it?     So this goes out to those people that would like to call me immature. I've got 2 things to say to you. First, don't ever presume to tell me how to act and when to do it. I'm mature enough to know when those times are. And second, before you label somebody, get to know them. Just because you don't see the serious side all the time, it doesn't mean it's not there. C.W.