I’m proposing a new yardstick for maturity: Maturity can be measured by the amount of fear felt by a person in any situation.

The amount of fear felt doesn’t always match the amount displayed. If a person displays a fearful reaction (which can be observed as sadness (I am not loved-If I am not loved I might die), anger (If I do not get justice, I might die), withdrawl (I will retreat in fear before I get killed), etc., even extreme joy is a reaction to a withdrawn sense of fear – professional comedians are in business because they are sensitive/fearful people who can access and communicate subtley the spectrum of people’s fears). Fear is a non-useful stress reaction that will cause undue stress and aging in the body. Very rarely does it ACTUALLY protect us from death. The trick is learning which battles to fight…learning to discern better and truly let slide the things that will not kill us in the end.

Wisdom is generally recognized as making decisions devoid of fear; understanding the “big picture.”