Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Today I continue with a question regarding our inner work. You have previously suggested that our inner process must be guided by Patience, Perseverance, Kindness, and Innocence. What is the next step?

My Dear One, all my Readers, and those who doubt that there is anything beyond the world you see: you know full well that without maturity you will not evolve or grow, but also that even life in that world will not be fulfilling, for maturity is the cornerstone in all life, the anchor within the self that holds you firmly in balance. It is the next step in your process of inner work, but, even if you are not currently doing your inner work, it is perhaps the most valuable characteristic to embrace in your outer work as well.

Maturity leads to balance. If I were to suggest that balance were the next step, I would likely point out that maturity was the necessary component, for without it balance would be impossible. So you see, maturity must be achieved, firmly rooted within the self in order for balance to be maintained, in order for innocence to be received in a proper manner, and for all aspects of self to be in alignment.

Maturity requires that you become the mature adult within, fully responsible, fully aware that you have within all that you need, desire, and subscribe to in others as necessary for true growth. Maturity is the process of taking control of your life with certain rules, expectations, and guidelines to keep you safe, healthy, and aware, but also to open you up to experiences and adventures with a measure of daring that lead to growth. Maturity means offering the self access to all that is necessary with a measure of firmness connected to knowing just how much you can handle and how far you can go before you lose your equilibrium.

Maturity is true knowing of self. It is being in charge of self at all times. It is asking the self to stay upon the path of awareness, to seek inner growth in whatever world you exist in. Maturity asks that you always consider the greater meaning, that you find the reason but also the purpose for all that challenges you, confronts you, befalls you, or comes to frighten you. Why must you have such distress in your life? Well, by remaining in your mature position of balance, your ideal adult self, you will be in the place of openness and awareness, but also safety and comfort, so that, with your adult self firmly in control and leading you forward, you may further explore your deeper issues.

In maturity, you may successfully explore other worlds and return more balanced and centered. In maturity, you may trust the self more fully and allow the self to move beyond the world before you to the possibilities that each new day offers. With maturity your intuition may open up to you, your doubt may sink away and your truth be clearly heard. By the mature self may you be self-guided, knowing that the universe is supporting you because that is already a given to the mature self, just as it is to the innocent self.

In balance of maturity and innocence will you open new doors within the self, and your progress will manifest in new doors opening outside of you as well. In full maturity will you finally understand your purpose and the greater meaning of life in general, but your own life most specifically. For you will not be afraid of your own truths, and you will no longer run and hide from your fears but confront them consistently and concisely; clearly aware that they are steering you to where to go, to what to confront, and to how to live your life.

With maturity you will grow more certain that your life is most meaningful, that you have nothing to fear, that you are good, capable, knowledgeable and that you are fully outfitted for greater work beyond the self. With maturity you will evolve.

Find, today, your maturity within. Anchor your innocent self to this adult self and, locking hands, proceed on your journey in the safety of self. You know how to be mature, just as you know how to be innocent, even if you are not practiced in either aspect. You just have to step into the role and be what you know are the true actions of maturity and innocence, in fairness, compassion and love, with an eye always on evolving in that world, centered on inner work manifesting in outer work. That is maturity in balance: accepting that both worlds, and the work in both worlds, is legitimate and absolutely necessary in order to change and evolve the self and the world outside of you.