At puberty's end, chaos becomes the norm for a dozen years or so as our mind is fully engaged seeking maturity while our body's biological abilities advance. Nearing the end, we are prepared for a transformation into independence (or so we believe). 

My journey included a first love (who dumped me because I was a jerk); the guys I ran with; the other girls I dated (One Date Gordon was still a jerk); bad feet limiting sports to anything that didn't involve running; early HS graduation; failing at college; joining Air force; teenage marriage (that worked... lucky jerk); technical instructor; back to college; engineering degree; becoming an engineer... Adolescence complete. Next?

In retrospect, my adolescence was like Sir Parzival's quest for the grail which Joseph Campbell equated as one's search for an authentic life. How was yours?

The greatest achievements for me were that I was never arrested, did not kill anyone, was not killed, and that all my missteps led to new situations where I was too dumb to quit and able to make an attempt to succeed at what came next.

Don't recall who said it, "Adolescence is an ordeal to be endured." but it fits.

Leading to Segue 3: Mental Maturity

 © 1997-2016 Gordon Hill as of October 29, 2016