‘It’s shocking to me so many people are cruel and uncaring’

Maturity – what is it? Something that happens to all of us or does it? When I turned 60 I felt I could be 40 or even younger. Attitude is the key.

Confidence — at our age, that comes and goes. Security — millions of people for all sorts of reasons usually without their control (current world financial issues for example) have no security, but still find a way to manage. Piece of mind — that’s a good one. Individuals think everyone other than themselves has achieved sound piece of mind, but in my opinion none of us do unless, as in my life, being bipolar gives me all sorts of piece of mind, daily, hourly. It disappears a lot as well. Is an entire world suffering from this type of polarisation? Being comfortable in yourself is achieved with kindness and consideration of yourself and of others.

I worry we are turning into people who are heartless, violent, uncaring of our fellow man, vitriolic to all, self-centred, and just plain awful. It’s happened at a fast pace. I feel we need to think about our lives, our futures and what, where and how we would like to end up. Age might be just a number, but to feel comfortable in ourselves we do have to think about how we treat ourselves and others; a kind word or deed doesn’t cost money, it gives us strength to improve our inner being, and those we have assisted even in the smallest way may not remember what it was, but they may also have more strength to go on.

My pet hate is money and it has been said it is the root of all evil. I question why those who have the ability and the funds to help their fellow man often do not. We have long had the attitude that we need to make our money off the backs of those we don’t care about. Why do we need so much variety when a large percentage of the population doesn’t have the money to buy food or essential items? Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have money, but it baffles me why so many people bet on the future of our world by needing to progress over the tops of others.

This leads me to politics. It is such a mixture of attitudes, agendas and self interests. While I can admit not all politicians are like this, a great many are and it taints all around us. The inability of elected representatives to truly present the case of those who otherwise don’t have a voice not only shows how out of touch our politicians are, but it causes stress and grief.

I was so pleased to finally see a United States president who was caring, humane, intellectual and thoughtful to his fellow man (and I have lived long enough to have lived through a significant number of presidencies). When Barrack Obama was elected US president, he held on to his belief that he could make the country a better place, but also that he could help a world that was suffering. I felt he served with humanity and made every effort to solve a number of issues plaguing the country. Who else is stepping up to the plate in this way?

I feel in my lifetime the world has really gone far away from its most needed core values. It will take a miracle to even dent a positive start to a healthy humanity, something that is liveable and sustainable.

How do you feel about the world around you? Do you think maturity has a part to play in how people behave towards one another?

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