Maturity - How to know we are matured

My dad was helping my mom learn how to drive. He gifted her a new car and was giving her the first lesson.

My mom was following the instructions that he gave quite nervously as she didn't want to mess up.

And in this first day of having the brand new car, within a matter of minutes she hit the car against a nearby wall and the car had a few minor damages.

What was my dad's reaction?

He said “I'm glad that you damaged the car as soon as possible. Now for the rest of the day, you won't be nervous about messing up as the worst has already happened and you will be more focused on the lesson.”

What is maturity?

Maturity, to me, is keeping our quick and instant reactions on the side because we are acknowledging the situation of another person and are looking at things from the bigger perspective.

My dad here knew that my mom’s emotions and feelings were more important than something materialistic such as a car.

And I always smile when he tells me this story.

Note: If you argue that training should have been given in the old car itself, then you are presupposing that the new car has to be better than the old. In my example, the old car was a BMW 7li series model and the new was a Lexus car. ‘New’ does NOT have to mean ‘replacement of equal value’. ‘New’ can be ‘addition’ of any value. So this argument is quite simple minded.

Also do differentiate between a person giving a gift and a trainer, coach or instructor.

Secondly, gifts are only given to people with the expectation that they can ‘manage’ it and maintain the same. This is the basic rationale behind giving a ‘gift’. If my father was so unsure and skeptical about my mom’s driving, he wouldn't tell her not to use her ‘gift’ until she is a professional but rather he wouldn't have bought her a car in the first place.

Thirdly, a beginner tends to develop comfort to drive in the car they were trained. Hence it doesn't make sense to train a ‘beginner’ with the likes of one car and make them use another. You may have a different opinion, but I stand with mine.

Source:quora