Spend half the night on the Internet on the eve of important negotiations; get into a pointless argument with a child or be rude to parents; suddenly “break loose” and utter unnecessary words to the authorities … Who among us from time to time did not happen to feel like a teenager who contradicts everyone, questions everything and cannot cope with emotions?
By saying, «He’s acting like a teenager,» we usually want to emphasize that the person is acting irresponsibly or recklessly. He does something differently than everyone — including himself — would be comfortable. We are annoyed by such behavior in others, but no less — in ourselves.
Many problems of adults are connected with the fact that internally we still remain in childhood. This happens to everyone for different reasons, but the result is always the same: an infantile, delayed in a childish state, a person with difficulty builds relationships with others. He is not able to be responsible and fully manage his life.
Even if, as psychologists say, he “compensates well” and generally achieves success, there is certainly an area in his life in which infantilism interferes.
It is necessary to grow up — this is the logic of human life. Nevertheless, each of us should leave a place in our souls for the girl or boy that we once were.
Fantasy, creativity, spontaneity — all this can be shared with us by the inner child. But nothing like this is usually written or said about the inner teenager, who also remains to live in the soul of a completely adult, mature person.
Becoming an adult means finding a balance between your uniqueness and the need to follow accepted rules.
Is it possible to find something good in his obstinacy, intemperance, uncompromisingness?
A teenager has a keen sense of his own otherness, uniqueness. It is later, gaining experience and the prescribed portion of life lessons, that we learn to somehow adapt our uniqueness, to make it convenient to use.
Becoming an adult means finding a balance between your uniqueness and the need to follow accepted rules.
The rules are easier to follow, and there is a risk that this balance will be upset: the “norm” will take precedence over what we consider to be the main thing in ourselves.
Maybe some traits of the inner teenager can give us a chance to return to ourselves? To change the usual course of things, to look differently at the standards set by ourselves or dictated by circumstances?
Make a decision that, perhaps, goes beyond the usual logic, but is fully consistent with exactly how we feel today? And perhaps give your life a completely different, new direction?