Naturally we begin our days as infants. Babies who have very specific needs, who get those needs met through specific actions that are and become habits, then we grow and are ability to form concepts gets better and we see reality in a new light, this moves up to the next stage of development, and we have a new set of needs on top of the old ones that we have learned to manage. This continues as we grow. The problem we face in regards to our maturity rate today is; the fact that we have succeeded in creating a kind of utopian society here in America, we have succeeded in making it very easy for all of us to get our immediate needs met very easily. (Sometimes all we need to do is cry). We have successfully doubled our life expectancies, the poorest of us are the fattest, instead of, as it is in all other societies to date, quite the opposite. We can extend our credit into infinitum to keep up with the Joneses no matter how in debt we put ourselves and all we have to do is go bankrupt. One disillusion of success is always competing with the next. Until you develop a neighborhood of phonies each struggling to keep up the illusion.Extended on to the pages of our favorite heroes in our favorite star magazines. We have succeeded! The cost is; we no longer have a need to mature any further, we no longer need to work at looking at who we are so we can benefit from that. We put stock in what others think we are, that is more valuable than who we really are. This causes a distinct and factual arrested state of development. Most adults today are suspended in the "teenager" state. This is where the need to be right in our own mind becomes more important that really right , being left alone instead of fulfilling obligations,we want freedom without really earning it. We get our needs met by complaining, or effectively demonizing our competition. We seek others who share our views on religion and politics regardless of what the actual facts are. We value playing and hate working. We think it is punishment to work, even if it is something we enjoy and makes our lives easier in the long run. We seek relationships with people who tell us what we want to hear, rather than people who can effectively point out the truth about what our actions cause in reality. We need so much attention, that we will go to great lengths to get it, we play all sorts of games and plans of attacks to get our needs met. Bottom line we are at war with our life. And this is the natural stage of a teen and what it takes to make the hard transition into adulthood. We just are stuck there forever it seems. Or leadership today absolutely reflects that. Our leaders now benefit from supporting this arrested state in the short term and have no reason at all to raise the bar. They would just get fired. Solution? Try and solve this at home. Become aware of the stage of development you are currently in and decide if this is enough, make it very important to grow instead of lie down to die. Growing takes work and new fertile soil. It's very uncomfortable to change our habits, but worth it once you do. Find a mentor and make it priority to hear the truth no matter how much it hurts.Your friend. Dan