Maturity isn’t about playing games or trying to win someone over. It’s about understanding that life doesn’t always go according to plan, and not everyone or everything you care about will feel the same way about you. Sometimes, it’s as simple as accepting that people have their own paths, and forcing them to choose you isn’t a healthy or realistic way to approach life.
I remember a time when I was head over heels for a guy, and when things went south between us, I couldn’t stop asking *why*. I’d question everyone around me, my friends and family, desperate for answers. I just couldn’t understand how things fell apart. Why wasn’t I the one he chose?
I even clung to any opportunity to run into him, hoping for some kind of second chance, a moment where I could finally pour out everything I had bottled up inside during our complicated relationship. I wanted to tell him how he made me feel things no one else ever had. I wanted to explain the emotional chaos I’d been through, how much I’d cried after we stopped talking.
I wanted to beg him for another shot, to promise that we could work things out despite all the reasons that told us we weren’t meant to be. But I’m grateful I never got that chance.
Looking back, I realize how unhealthy that all was. Why was I begging for someone’s love and attention, even if it was just the bare minimum? Why was I chasing crumbs? It’s a tough truth, but it’s important to ask: why are we so willing to force someone to love us back?
It’s a little unsettling when you think about it. We try to sway people into feelings they may not share, pressuring them into choices that don’t align with their own. But no one owes us anything. Not everyone is meant to love us back, and it’s not our place to demand that from them.
Maturity is realizing that people don’t owe us the life we imagined for ourselves. It’s about understanding that if we have to convince or force someone to be part of our world, maybe they’re not the right person for us anyway.