I'll be honest, growing up sucks. When you're a child, there's nothing you want more than to grow up and be a teacher, or an astronaut, or a doctor. Then when you're a teenager, there's nothing you want more than to leave the house and have your own independence; be free of being told what to do. And then it happens. And you're an adult.

You're working. You're tied down with bills. You're struggling to make ends meet. And you want to rescind your comments about growing up. Growing up is terrible, and nowhere near as great as it looked through your ten-year-old eyes.

I'm 24 now and I'm content. I've discovered that being content is far better than I thought. You're not happy; you're not sad. You're content. You're stable and you're coping. That's not to say I don't experience happiness or sadness; of course I do. But content is the overwhelming emotion. Plodding on knowing that you're financially, physically and mentally secure for the time being. It's a reassuring thing.

But what I want to talk about today is the people that don't grow up. This is something I find myself thinking about a lot. They do physically; their hairs turn grey and wrinkles start to form, but their mind remains the same. I would call them the Peter Pans of our world; because for the majority of the time, they're the best people to be around. They're happy and carefree. They make you laugh. But they don't know how to adult. And here's where I have my issue.

There are circumstances in life where you have to let people you love be free. Whether it's a child leaving home or watching a friend get married; their life is theirs, and even though it hurts that you're not the centre of their world anymore - you have to let them.

I'll talk about my circumstance. My mum was in a toxic marriage, and when I left home, she left shortly after. She found new love, and a new home in Lichfield; which is over 2 hours away from the place I call home.

I cried for days, weeks, even months. I have never been away from my mum for more than a few days, and selfishly I wanted to keep her nearby for myself. As the months went on, I saw her change. She was content; truly content. It was at this moment that I realised I'd never seen my mum content. I'd never seen her make jokes, or felt embarassed because she was being overly affectionate to her partner; or seen her completely relax and be herself. And that is the moment in which I grew up.

Holding people back to make yourself happy is selfish. And I'll admit that it took me months to see that. Some people it will take years. Some people will never see that. And they're the ones you end up growing apart from. The ones that can't take that you have another source of happiness in your life now, that isn't them. And those are the people that I'm fed up of.

You can feel jealousy. Almost 3 years down the line, and I still feel jealous - but don't let that change your behaviour towards a person. Don't lose something good because you're so encased in negative emotion. When I grew up and welcomed my mum's new partner with open arms, it was the best decision I ever made. I even now call him dad. You never know what you might gain by going into something with an open mind.

Me and My Dad