They say with age comes maturity, but that’s not always the case. Hitting another birthday doesn’t automatically grant you the keys to the universe or teach you how to get your crap together, but if you think you might be a grown woman, you should know how to do these things:
- See other women as friends, not competition. Instead of viewing the women around you as people you need to compete with, you see them as people you can take inspiration from. You know there’s more than enough room for everyone to succeed.
- Own up to your mistakes. You apologize sincerely and without thinking twice if you know you’ve screwed up, and you do whatever you can to make things better. You never let your pride get in the way of saying sorry for hurting someone’s feelings, whether or not that was your intention.
- Hold a meaningful conversation. You have depth and people compliment you for that. They look forward to talking to you because you’re not afraid of your own voice and you challenge ideals whenever necessary. You also know how to respect other people’s perspective and never try to convince them to come around to your way of thinking.
- Know what you want and how to get it. You’ve got goals you’re working on consistently and strategies in place to reach them within a reasonable amount of time. In case you fail, you know how to get back up on your own. You don’t need anyone to help you get back on track because you know what you want and won’t accept anything less.
- Compromise where necessary. You don’t hold a destructive “my way of the highway” attitude. You’ve mastered the art of meeting people halfway because you believe it’s the best way to ensure everyone is happy and fulfilled.
- Keep something alive. Whether it’s a dog or a plant, you know how to be responsible for another living thing and how to not only keep it alive, but keep it thriving, too. No more pawning it off on your parents — you’ve got this.
- Avoid drama at all costs. You don’t create drama or get involved in other people’s because you know it’s a huge waste of time. If you get pulled into someone else’s drama, you’re quick to exit stage left.
- Love yourself. You’ve grown past the stage where you beat yourself up when you fail. You know that you only got you, so you’re taking conscious effort of making sure that you’re valued and supported from within instead of looking for it from other people.
- Drop the judgmental attitude. You’ve been through some tough crap in life and you know that the toughest circumstances can bring out the worst in people, too. You don’t know the ins and outs of other people’s lives, so you wouldn’t judge them.
- Date only grown men. You know just by looking whether the hot guy checking you out is a little boy or a real man. You don’t waste your time with guys who can’t even get their act together — you’ve been there, done that, and know better by now.