What does it mean to be emotionally mature? Anyone who considers themselves to be emotionally mature likely has their own answer to this question. I can't answer for everybody, but I can say what it means to me.
Emotional 'maturity' means moving past emotional 'childhood', the state we are born into. In that state, we are driven primarily by our instincts, emotions, and impulses. As emotional adults, we are also driven largely by these, but they are in service of something greater, namely, our deeper wants and desires. We can recognize that our emotions are in error and reject them if we like. We can shape them over time. We can learn.
Emotional maturity is impossible, then, without some understanding of our deeper desires. It is impossible without self-awareness. Self-awareness is what allows us to say, "I feel this way, but I don't want to be this way." . For a child, feeling is being.
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