14/01/2026
Look at that—acting like a child.”
The day we learn to say this, or even think it quietly to ourselves, perhaps that is the day we grow up.
The night we feel the sudden urge to go to the bathroom and get up on our own, without calling our parents, that is the day we grow up.
In a casual gathering, when we unexpectedly meet a friend, colleague, or neighbor, and after hearing a harsh remark we choose to smile softly instead of losing our composure—that is the day we grow up.
We grow up when the child who once refused to go anywhere or stay anywhere without their parents begins to survive alone in a strange, unfamiliar city.
The child who once refused to share even a little with siblings, who sulked, skipped meals in anger, and finally fell asleep with their resentment melting away after eating food cooked by their mother—
the day that child learns to share and adjust their bed, food, clothes, desires, dreams, and secrets, that is the day they grow up.
We do grow up—
but how far, how much must we grow before we can say there is no need to grow any further?
As our mindset matures, the meanings of age, companionship, duty, responsibility, and sacrifice also change.
But in the end, do we ever truly find the answer to the question?
What does it really mean to grow up?
Even after being consumed by fire, or laid to rest in a coffin or a grave—do we ever find that answer?
Has anyone?
Or do we keep searching for centuries upon centuries,
like answers to questions that were never meant to be found?
