Home » Growing Up Not Getting Old (poem)

Reprint

Infantile love follows the principle: "I love because I am loved."

Mature love follows the principle: "I am loved because I love."

Immature love says: "I love you because I need you."

Mature love says: "I need you because I love you." Erich Fromm
 

Coming from infantilism to adolescence to maturity

Stages we must fulfill to acquire humane security

Our young lives are bound by standards we must meet

For society demands credentials we must complete

Life demands more than just earning our way

We must recognize the laws we are forced to obey

Maturity comes slow to those who question our laws

For learning right from wrong we see all of our flaws

Love is to seek, to know, and especially to feel

Finding the Lord is when we began to heal 

                

The healing process can take time and patience

For our wound is not personal - it involves all of God's creation

To be needed and to need others is all part of God's plan

This has been the rule ever since life began

Maturity brings wisdom, knowledge and peace of mind

Positive traits we were born with - are becoming refined

The older I get the better I feel - my soul takes control

It leads me down the road to find life's true goal

Growing up is not getting older it's discovering your heart

Its true purpose in life is to love and to be a part