Wisdom and maturity are rare today. In my Institute class last week we discussed maturity and education. On other days over the last few weeks, we have often discussed maturity and age. In a few weeks, I will be old enough that I will be forced by virtue of policy to leave the congregation I attend for another largely void of singles near my age. For the last few years, I have taught students who ranged from 16 to 60 and discovered that although they differ in terms of calendar, they share other important characteristics.
Circumstances of my life gave me the opportunity to learn and grow. At the age of 18, I left my father's home for college 500 miles away. At the age of 19, I left college to serve as a missionary almost 6000 miles from home. By the age of 23, I had married and built a home. I have seen death, dishonor, and disobedience. I have taken responsibility. I grew.
Age in and of itself brings neither wisdom nor maturity. I know people many years my elder who act like teenagers and people many years younger who act elder than their age. What we do defines us. Many people with much make little of it; and many people with little make much of it. Greatness is not to do much with much but to do much in spite of what happens or what does not.
Much has been said on the subject of age as respects relationships. Men find young girls attractive but shallow and old girls interesting but unattractive. There is a beauty beyond the senses, a beauty of the spirit that is often overlooked. For when looks fade, it is the heart and soul that really matter. Differences in age mean you may have little in common. I have found that there are many things that we do not share, but most of those things like TV shows, music, fashion, etc., are things that don't matter. While age often describes where you have been and what is left in front of you, some people, either by their own choice or because of choices made by those around them, go through things even I have not experienced while others are completely spared the trouble of growing up.
The most important thing in relationships is to know what you are attracted to, understand what you want in a partner and a relationship, and confirm that these things are in agreement before you choose to spend time with someone. Now when I meet someone extremely younger or older who I'm into, I look for common interests before committing to a date, and these interests go beyond free time activity. Sometimes it doesn't work. I have met girls who actually read and understood DeTocqueville but who haven't read a book in over a year or who got up to exercise when they were single who now stay up until 3AM with their boyfriends and no longer ever work out. Excellence is a habit, and people make time for things that really matter to them.
I am not that older guy who always dates younger women. As a rule, I am usually irritated by their immaturity. Some women I know are headed in different directions than that in which I head. Some women have no idea where they go. Not that they head in the wrong direction per se, but most of the women I know spin donuts in the parking lot while they wait for someone to come and point them in the right direction. Often, I am not chosen because I am neither rich nor ever intend so to be. I seek a help meet. However she looks or whatever her age, when she comes, I will rejoice at the opportunity to grow old and wise together with her.
Circumstances of my life gave me the opportunity to learn and grow. At the age of 18, I left my father's home for college 500 miles away. At the age of 19, I left college to serve as a missionary almost 6000 miles from home. By the age of 23, I had married and built a home. I have seen death, dishonor, and disobedience. I have taken responsibility. I grew.
Age in and of itself brings neither wisdom nor maturity. I know people many years my elder who act like teenagers and people many years younger who act elder than their age. What we do defines us. Many people with much make little of it; and many people with little make much of it. Greatness is not to do much with much but to do much in spite of what happens or what does not.
Much has been said on the subject of age as respects relationships. Men find young girls attractive but shallow and old girls interesting but unattractive. There is a beauty beyond the senses, a beauty of the spirit that is often overlooked. For when looks fade, it is the heart and soul that really matter. Differences in age mean you may have little in common. I have found that there are many things that we do not share, but most of those things like TV shows, music, fashion, etc., are things that don't matter. While age often describes where you have been and what is left in front of you, some people, either by their own choice or because of choices made by those around them, go through things even I have not experienced while others are completely spared the trouble of growing up.
The most important thing in relationships is to know what you are attracted to, understand what you want in a partner and a relationship, and confirm that these things are in agreement before you choose to spend time with someone. Now when I meet someone extremely younger or older who I'm into, I look for common interests before committing to a date, and these interests go beyond free time activity. Sometimes it doesn't work. I have met girls who actually read and understood DeTocqueville but who haven't read a book in over a year or who got up to exercise when they were single who now stay up until 3AM with their boyfriends and no longer ever work out. Excellence is a habit, and people make time for things that really matter to them.
I am not that older guy who always dates younger women. As a rule, I am usually irritated by their immaturity. Some women I know are headed in different directions than that in which I head. Some women have no idea where they go. Not that they head in the wrong direction per se, but most of the women I know spin donuts in the parking lot while they wait for someone to come and point them in the right direction. Often, I am not chosen because I am neither rich nor ever intend so to be. I seek a help meet. However she looks or whatever her age, when she comes, I will rejoice at the opportunity to grow old and wise together with her.
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