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Part One Personal Development
your emotions and not keep them bottled up inside. This, too, is a part
of growing emotionally.
Another part of emotional growth is learning the best way to
respond to emotional situations. For instance, if you feel anger toward
someone, you will fi nd a way to resolve this anger without using
hurtful words or violent behavior. You may try mentally counting to
ten rather than yelling out words you might regret later. You may even
suggest that you both calm down and talk about the problem again
when you are not so upset. Learning to handle your feelings and actions
in ways that are acceptable both to yourself and to others will help you
grow emotionally.
Social Growth
You also grow socially as you learn to relate to others around
you. This growth begins at an early age. Babies smile when parents or
caregivers talk to them. Children fi rst play alone, and then they learn
the fun of playing with others, 1-6. As a teen, you are opening up new
avenues for social growth. This will continue throughout your life.
In your family, you learn an expected pattern of behavior as a child,
son or daughter, and/or brother or sister as you pass through different
stages of social growth. You grow from self-centeredness to being
considerate of others. You learn to share and take turns. You learn to
listen to the views of others.
In your community, you learn what is acceptable as a pattern for
social behavior. These experiences in a social setting help you meet
new people and learn behaviors that are acceptable and unacceptable.
You mature socially as you learn to adopt as your own the rules and
guidelines that allow a society to function for the benefi t of all.
Philosophical Growth
As you grow philosophically, you may search for deeper meaning
and purpose in your life. As a child, you related to specific objects. As a
teen, you are thinking more abstractly of things you cannot see or feel.
Questions such as “Who are you?,” “Where are you from?,” and
“Where are you going?” were easy to answer when you were young.
You simply stated your name, the city in which you lived, and the
place you were going—to school, home, or the store. As you grow
philosophically, you sense there are other ways to answer these
questions. You begin to think more deeply about who you are, why you
are here, and what you want to accomplish in life, 1-7.
Young people are looking for a sense of direction. They are also trying
to gain deeper insight into other people and the world around them.