By: ALMAS, A.C.

Affective maturity is acquired through a long and slow process and through the different stages of life. It is the self-consciousness and control of our own emotions in a free and constant way. It is the ability to love intensely and be loved by others. Reaching a healthy sense of personal identity, intimacy sense and personal transcendence sense, are some important elements in this process towards personal maturity.

The individual lives the affective maturity in each of the stages of his/her life in a specific way; as soon as the person goes through this vital process, he/she is called to increase such maturity by means of an identity sense, intimacy sense and transcendence sense.

• Personal identity sense: it is achieved answering the question; who am I? And through an adequate SELF-ESTEEM which involves the self-consciousness of positive and negative aspects of personality as well as self-confidence, self-control and self-affirmation.

• Personal intimacy sense: it is the ability of relating with others in an intimate way, of giving and receiving affection, as well as to experiment friendly relations with different degree of depth.

• Personal transcendence sense: it is achieved answering the question WHAT DO I EXIST FOR? It is about finding sense to our own existence.

Everybody needs to find meaning to his/her existence, if not, the individual lives an existential emptiness, which makes him/her experiment a feeling of desperation and dissatisfaction in his/her personal life.

Therefore, a mature person has:

• A true knowledge of himself/herself.

• Self-acceptance and acceptance of the others.

• Recognition of other’s qualities and skills as well as those of his/her own limitations.

• Recognition of emotions and feelings.

• Ability to love.

• Independent personal relationships.

• Ability to create.

• Friendly and deep relations.

• Self-control.

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