Status Updates From Adult Children of Emotional...

TRAITS OF EMOTIONALLY MATURE PEOPLE:
They work with reality rather than fighting it
Can think and feel at the same time
Consistent, reliable & truthful
Don’t take everything personally
They respect boundaries
Reciprocal, they give back
Flexible and compromise well
Even tempered, thoughtful, willing to be influenced
Can reflect, apologize & make amends
Empathetic, can see & understand others
Can laugh & be playful

Emotionally mature people have a good sense of humor and can use lightheartedness to relieve stress. Laughter is a form of egalitarian play between people & reflects an ability to relinquish control and follow someone else’s lead.
The immature form of humor includes cynicism, using it at someone else’s expense to boost one’s self-esteem, pushing it even when others aren’t amused, or as humor to trick others.

Remember what John Bowlby said: all humans share the primitive instinct that familiarity means safety. Therefore, if you grew up with EI parents, you may feel subconsciously drawn to the familiarity of egocentric and exploited people. Schema Therapy (Young & Klosko 1993) tells us that the people we find most charismatic often are subconsciously triggering us to fall back into negative family patterns.