writer and entrepreneur Mark Manson in his blog published an article that everyone will sooner or later go through several life stages.
Website advised to read this note to understand at what point you are and why it happened.
The other day I lay staring at the ceiling and suddenly realized that life is divided into 4 stages. Here they are.
1. Imitation
We are born helpless. We can not walk, talk, eat and even pay your fucking taxes.
As children we learn to live in imitation of adults. We learn from them how to move, talk, and so on. N. Then we develop our social skills by communicating with their peers already. Finally, we learn to adapt to the culture of the society, the norms, rules of conduct and framework.
The first stage - to teach us exist within society, but at the same time be independent units
But some adults are just idiots. They punish us for independence, we do not support our decision. Therefore, we can not become self-reliant, we have just slaughtered, and we permanently stuck at this stage of imitation.
A normal human imitation stage should end in adolescence or early adulthood. But some of it continues into adulthood. And there are those who, one morning, in 45 years, realize that they have always lived fucking someone else's life.
2. Self-knowledge
At the first stage we learn to live within society, in the second we are already looking for what makes us different from that of the society we want to be unique.
Self-knowledge - this is an experiment
The second stage lasts as long as we do not begin to set their own limits. Restrictions - the important thing. We must understand that our stay on this planet is limited and we have to spend it on the most important things and really good people.
But there are people who are really stuck at the stage of self-discovery. They spend most of the time, telling himself in the opposite, thinking that they have plenty of time. They are the ones who live with Mom 38, saying that is about to trample their business; or "future stars" who have never auditioned and some were not; or those who can not be in many respects, because they think that true love lies ahead.
Typically, self-phase lasts for the entire second decade of life, about 30-35. People who are stuck in it, suffering is called "Peter Pan syndrome" - a perpetual adolescents who are looking for life itself, and not achieving any results.
3. Implementation
As soon as we finished the stage of the experiment and found what we at least not terrible, we understand that it is now time to make his mark in this world.
In the third phase, we concentrate on the most important
That's what worries us at this stage, what I leave behind? how people remember me? I influenced the world? We need to achieve something so that future generations can answer these questions.
Usually this stage begins in 30-35 years and ends in the pre-retirement age, when we realize that we do not have time to realize all his ambitions. And time is not enough, and the physical forces at the end.
4. Heritage
We come to this stage has a half-century of life experience behind their shoulders. Something we have achieved something - no. In any case, we have reached the age when our energy does not allow us to move toward their goals as quickly as before.
This step is very difficult psychologically, because we are constantly haunted by the feeling your own mortality. All people need to feel that their existence nebessmyslenno. The belief that life has meaning - it is almost our only protection from thinking about death.
The purpose of this stage - to realize that you have a heritage. This is something that is not subject to the influence of death. Something that will exist without you. It may be children, students, professional projects, discoveries, political views and so on.
What is the meaning of these stages? h3> The idea is that with every step we can have more control over their lives, and most importantly - their happiness.
In the first phase our happiness depends on other people. The second - we are constantly experimenting, experiencing losses and failures. In the third, we have a happy, but do not have time to enjoy it. And finally, at last, we are content with the fruits of the previous stages and have only one task - to hold out as long as possible.
Each subsequent stage of happiness begins to be based more on domestic-driven values and less - on the outside of the ever-changing world.
It should be noted that the transition to the next step never instant
Translation Website
via markmanson.net/four-stages-of-life