'Right Choices and Timing'

'There are people, who through fear, have failed at a particular period of their lives to grow up; the teenager who is afraid of leaving his parents and who wishes to remain a child; the grownup who fears commitment and giving life, and wants to remain an adolescent, searching, without responsibility; the old person who refuses to acknowledge his age and grief. Perhaps because of a lack of preparation and support, perhaps because of sickness or psychological weaknesses, these people were unable to make the right choices at the right time. At a certain moment, when they have failed to make a transition from one stage of their lives into another, their anguish becomes too strong, nature cries out, and a crisis appears.'

- Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, p. 161