Have you ever wondered why some people can navigate their emotional spectrum smoothly, while others often end up feeling overwhelmed with guilt or shame? There are a lot of factors could explain why some people handle their emotions well, from personality and temperament to self-control. But, apart from these there is one psychological construct that indicates how well we cope with unexpected events that generate emotional discomfort and throw us off the track. It’s called emotional maturity.
What Exactly is Emotional Maturity?
When we talk about emotional maturity, we essentially refer to the ability to understand, reflect, nurture and manage our emotions. There are certain characteristic features by which you can define emotional maturity. These include the urge to take responsibilities knowing the difficulties, being able to embrace failures and learning from the mistakes, being open to criticisms without retaliating, showing empathy towards others among others.
Why Building Emotional Maturity is Important?
Developing one’s emotional maturity may not only help improve relationships with others, but it may also promote their mental well-being. Several studies on life satisfaction has found that low emotional maturity or emotional immaturity is often directly related to higher levels of loneliness and low life satisfaction.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at:
10 signs of an emotionally mature person.
1. You’re Not Scared to Be Alone
Amidst the humdrum of our daily lives, it’s essential to find some ‘Me Time’ and nurture your emotional wellbeing. An emotionally mature person appreciates solitude as it allows them to connect with their inner voice.
But, it’s important to know the difference between being alone and being lonely. You can be amongst a group of people and yet feel lonely, if there’s none you can mentally connect with.
On the other hand, you can be alone and happy if you learn to enjoy your own company.
Must-Read: Your Guide To Maintaining Emotional Health At Work
2. You Take Responsibility
While its human tendency to put the blame on others in order to justify our failures. But as an emotionally person you are well aware of your mistakes and take responsibility of your emotions. This means you allow yourself to be accountable for what you’re feeling and do not blame others for what you feel. Instead of complaining about your distress or the unexpected situation, you take action to improve your situation.
3. Unafraid of Vulnerability
It might not come easily. It might take time to learn how to put your feelings into words. But as an emotionally mature person, you understand the value of being vulnerable with other people and as a result, you tend to have deeper friendships. You’re also willing to open up and share your feelings and struggles with your trusted ones to feel less alone and don’t strive to look ‘perfect’.
4. You Set and Respect Boundaries
Emotionally mature people know that boundaries aren’t the enemy, in fact they’re necessity. You don’t want to keep people at an arm’s length, but you also know what it takes for you to feel safe in your relationships. It’s needless to say, you also respect other people’s boundaries since you want people to be comfortable around you.
5. Flexible Mindset
Emotional maturity involves a certain degree of mental flexibility. The way you interpret the occasional failures and misfortunes that life rolls out, matters greatly. Your perception can amplify or diminish the emotional impact such events can have on your overall sense of happiness and well-being.
For emotionally mature people, a failed relationship or a project that has come to an end is part of the journey, not the end of the world. Such people understand that nobody can stay on a winning streak forever, so it’s vital to handle setbacks with patience and self-compassion.
6. Open to Learning
You’re aware of your shortcomings and flaws. But aside from owning your shortcomings and failures, another sign of emotional maturity is to work on them actively. Hence you seek moments to learn from the people around you and are open to being wrong.
7. Hold No Grudges
Even if someone did or said something wrong, you don’t hold grudges against them. While you disagree with them, you won’t hate on them just because you have a different opinion. Emotionally mature individuals understand that holding grudges neither helps in pacifying one’s emotions nor does it make the other person change their perspective.
8. Your Emotions Don’t Control You
A feeling doesn’t have to lead to an instant reaction. As an emotionally mature person you know you can think before acting based on your feelings. This creates more reasonable thinking and better relations in the long run. You let small things go rather than letting it dictate your whole day.
9. Showing Empathy
Empathy is fundamental to emotional maturity. Empathy is also the reason why you pause and think about other people’s feelings before you say something that may be construed as offensive or disrespectful. But empathy shouldn’t and doesn’t stop you from voicing your opinions; it just drives you to express yourself assertively yet compassionately.
10. Prioritize a Value Driven Life
Emotional maturity also involves a solid set of values and principles based on which you live your day-to-day life. Moreover, emotionally mature people realize that values and principles cultivate stability and facilitate decisions based on personal beliefs, not momentary emotional impulses.
These 5-minute tips will help you improve your emotional health.
A value-driven life is like a compass that allows you to navigate challenging situations without straying off course.
About the author:
Suhasini Jha is a Mumbai-based ex-journalist who has previously worked with Firstpost and Moneycontrol.
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