Growing up really means learning that silence is not emptiness, but power. You no longer waste yourself trying to correct the stories others create about you, because you realize their words can't define your truth. People will twist, assume, and speak, but you stop chasing explanations. Instead, you choose peace over noise, calm over arguments. Maturity is knowing the truth doesn't need defending; it lives quietly within you, waiting for time to reveal what voices could never explain.