The Grasshopper had an interesting question the other day: “Who’s going to pay for your bad day?”

In the spirit of full disclosure, I do believe this was a nudge from the universe to write one of the books I’ve been threatening to write for years but have been too lazy to give it full effort.

The book’s theme is about growing up and what’s necessary to be in place to be an adult, not just an older person with lots of immature habits.

One of the signs of immaturity I’ve been able to observe is that when a person is mad, they’re mad at the whole world. The message they communicate is: If I’m going down, everyone is going with me, including all the innocents. They seem incapable of compartmentalizing their angst.

The textbook example is the person who comes home from a less than glorious day at work. Children in the home are just being children, playing and being kids. The parent snaps at what is regular behavior and even the dog goes away with its tail between its legs. Everyone is going to pay for your bad day.

The trick to outgrowing any behavior is to recognize and acknowledge it while it’s running and physically interrupt it before it does its damage. But lots of folks don’t recognize this “gonna’ pay” phenomenon as immaturity. They, or others, have labeled it in the category of “That’s just the way I am.” That’s justifying immaturity and keeping it in place. In fact, most times you hear the word “just,” you’re about to hear a justification.

“Oh, he’s just in one of his moods” is a telltale justification for someone’s immaturity. Whether you are defending yourself or someone else with a justification for poor behavior, you are legitimizing immaturity as acceptable behavior.

Does everyone have to pay for your bad day? Your answer to that question determines your level of immaturity. Once you recognize it, you now have the option to grow up.

All the best,

John