#71 The wealth that powers life

There are three types of personal growth: Physical, material, and mental. But, we only care about the first two. We’re often interested in the body image of ourselves and others. Someone becoming fat or thin or well-built is often a topic of discussion when we meet someone. It is even a major subject of interest for the media.

We do the same when it comes to material wealth as well. We’re curious about moving up the career ladder, saving up, buying that car, or building that house. Society has even set imaginary goals like “One should earn X when they’re about to get married, one should own a car by the time they’re 30, and they should have their own house by the time they’re 40.” Society has imaginary prerequisites against which we constantly measure ourselves. We also envy those who score better on this imaginary scale early in life.

We envy others based on how they look, what they drive, where they live, how much they earn, etc. But we never compare ourselves with the mental maturity of others. We never talk about mental wealth. Our society doesn’t have a scale for mental maturity. There is no “This should be the mental maturity of somebody in their 30s.” On the contrary, speaking about mental health is still considered taboo.

Result? We live in a society that lacks the right mental and emotional maturity.  Result? We're surrounded by immature adults and elders.

I'm not saying we should have imaginary prerequisites for mental maturity. But, I believe it's high time we self-assess our mental maturity and realize where we are. Apart from envying someone's health and wealth, we should also envy their mental maturity and look for ways to attain it. This will help us open up, discuss, and grow as a race.