e.e. cummings and growing up

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."

E. E. Cummings

This leaves me with a question: How do we start the entire process, or is this something that just happens along the way? Maybe the courage comes in when we see what is happening and let it keep going without trying to halt it or change it to suite some warped image we have of ourselves in our heads.