It is only when you have that wonderful hindsight that age brings can you see clearly how the life of an individual goes through a number of stages on its journey from birth to death.
The first stage is that period where we absorb and retain information at an amazing rate most probably not matched in any later stage. Children can learn two or three languages at the same time purely by association and with little formal input. We go from thoroughly dependent on our parents to where we start to challenge their rules and regulations.
During this period it is interesting to observe how some children mentally get on top of their parents and soon have them falling over themselves to please this relatively new arrival. In other ways it is sad because the parent’s ability to influence the development of that child is diluted and as a role model is soon replaced by peer groups.
While most parents strive to be loved by their offspring it is equally important that the child respects them and what the stand for within a community. A number of religious sects claim that if they can have easy access to a child until it is five or six they will have them as a devotee for life.
The next stage starts about when they become a teenager ( some earlier some later) and new chemicals enter their blood stream causing them to react in ways that they have difficulties in understanding and their emotions can swing from one extreme to another. This we call maturing and can be a difficult period for both the child and their parents. The greatest degree of participation in sport takes place during this stage and can serve as an outlet for increased physical activity and a better alternative to just hanging out with friends. The peer group pressure is also very strong during this period but some of these teenagers will already start displaying an ability to stand alone from the group and adhere closely to the guidelines given to them from their parents and other adults which they respect. A majority of these will go onto be leaders rather than followers and can use their power to influence for either good or bad.
Stage Three which follows being a teenager involves a degree of partner selection and career formulation. Already those who will most likely end up in their own business enterprise have started on this path either through higher education or involvement in a training process that will allow them to use the skills gained to start their own enterprise. The followers are starting to attach themselves to institutions that will provide them with a good income and degree of safety but won’t challenge them to much personally. These people have already made the decision to use work as the method of producing income which they can spend on a pursuit that gives them greater satisfaction than their work.
Stage Four for most is where they have chosen their lifestyle set their ambitions chosen a partner and are facing providing a nest for the next generation. This period tends to be dominated by acquiring possessions which are seen as a measure of their success or lack of.
Young families can place a great strain on parents with limited financial support because they have to fund not only their own wants and needs but also those of the new generation. Many families split during this period as the bread winner starts to realise earlier decisions have placed them on a path of continuous struggle and they tend to resent this although it was the decisions that they made in an earlier stage which created the present situation. Also at this stage one can also start to feel responsible for aging parents.
The last stage can start from 60 years of age or later depending on the individual. At this stage one is faced with being a grandparent who for many brings great joy and pleasure while for others either through distance or relationship challenges this is a non event.
This is a time where the rewards of previous efforts or career decisions bears fruit and allows one to plan a retirement where you are financially independent with both time and money to use as you please. While for others they are committed to working as long as physically and mentally capable if they wish to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Many who have blamed everybody and everything except themselves for their lack of financial success over the past 30 to 40 years start to realise it is in the majority the decisions they made at different times that has led to their present situation. This is hard to accept but if they don’t come to grips with this fact they will spend their remaining years on this planet bitter, twisted and unable to enjoy that which is still available to them.
Normally your want list decreases considerably and a greater price is placed on relationships many of which you have taken for granted in earlier times. If you can accept your present financial situation and concentrate on human relationships this period can be as personally rewarding as any earlier stage of life.
