I’ve already explained HERE how to be mature.
You’re welcome!
And since that covers everything I know about the topic, I don’t have much more to say, except that I found myself in a (very rare!) instance where I was tempted (but didn’t succumb!) to acting with less than total maturity – The usual way that I conduct myself.
As I travelled recently, I sauntered across the line into injustice, which roused my dormant immaturity. I don’t usually cross over to the side where injustice lives. I like to stand firmly planted where the power is. (For example, read my marriage advice here!)
This is what happened.
“Welcome to the USA!” the signs read, cheerful people reaching through the posters to greet us.
Then the signs directed “Foreigners”, like us Canadians, to a long line of about 500 people waiting to enter US Customs, but our line-up only had 1 (that’s “ONE”) Customs Agent.
And when we finally arrived at Customs, my teen daughter ADMITTED (“WHY OH WHY did I teach her to tell the TRUTH?” I lamented with agony!) to forgetting to throw away her banana peel. She ignored or was too intimidated by the guys with guns at the customs depot to obey me when my eyes tried every manner of saying, “DROP the banana peel confession!”
So this little truthful confession cast into a deeper level of airport hell with the other Felons.
And there were no bathrooms during that long line up OR in the extra hell section of the airport we were in waiting for the Banana Felony to be absolved. And there was no water fountain. The lady before us was faint and had to sit on the floor just before her turn at Customs.
I felt like an animal waiting in a cage, the justice for basic human needs rising within me.
Not long after this, 3 hours later, when my sing songs, manic video watching and dancing about could no longer contain the fact that “I would like to use the bathroom please”, I was finally, reluctantly, given a pass out of the “Banana Felony” section of the airport.
Then the toilet wouldn’t flush. (It wasn’t just a number one but something more significant).
“Take that LAX airport!” I thought with great satisfaction!
There is justice in the world, after all!
After washing my hands, I suddenly realized it would be the hardest working person in the airport, the immigrant without much English, the one who is a post-doc in Moldova and whose 8-year-old child will one day end the Ebola epidemic. It would be that person who would encounter my indignant attempt at injustice.
I found a way to flush the toilet. (As I reflect, it was surprising how EASY it was to flush the toilet when one REALLY wanted to do it!)
“Did I find myself rejoicing in what I think I was rejoicing in?” my more mature self asked my recently victorious self several minutes later.
Yes, BUT I rose to the occasion and ACTED MATURELY!
Here’s how!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Three Tips to acting maturely EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT:
1) Try to remember that there are other people in the world besides you.
2) It’s okay that you aren’t friends with Trump, or someone in high places who has “connections,” and can bail you out of deep water when you are in trouble. (In fact, this may be a very good thing!) Something good happens to our soul when we suffer a little and brush up against a tiny measure of the injustice that most people around the world experience daily. This small measure of injustice can build compassion for the less fortunate if we let it (See Point #1).
An estimated 5 billion people have unmet justice needs globally, including people who cannot obtain justice for everyday problems, people who are excluded from the opportunity the law provides, and people who live in extreme conditions of injustice.
Source: World Justice Project
3) Let’s let the small injustices we experience be fuel to help another who has no power and regularly experiences this.
As the song below plays, consider asking God, “Is there someone I know experiencing injustice I can help support?” Who comes to mind? How can you reach out to them this week?
Will you rise?
Photo credit: Wise looking man by Parker Johnson on Unsplash
Thank you for liking me! I like you too! (Proven HERE, HERE and HERE!) Let’s journey together!
Restoring Life 