The road of life
Our life is a long road. When you are young, it seems endless, but you live with the feeling that you have everything ahead of you and that you have a lot of time at your disposal, so much that you don't even know how to use it and how to fill it.
At the end of life, when most of this road has already been passed, you look back and see that the years have flown by, as if in an instant. You realize that you didn’t have so much time, but very little remained.
The man makes the long road of life himself according to the models given by Nature and Fate. These models of the Path provide for their periods of movement and their stops, countless opportunities, tasks and tests, which are given at each stage, so that the one who follows the path, first of all, grows and develops. Which of all this is used by a person himself and what his path will ultimately turn out to be depends on his own efforts and the desire to understand why and for what purpose he is building it. This is a philosophical approach to the topic we are discussing.
Stages of the Life Path
Age in philosophy is one of the periods, stages, or cycles, of human development. The onset of each age is accompanied by physiological changes in the body, but this is only the visible part of the iceberg. Much more interesting is what is happening at the same time on the mental and mental plane and how it affects the way of life of a person. For philosophy, another question is key: how does a person's spiritual development take place in each cycle and how does it affect his fate and destiny?
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Three points of view
Age is a very specific concept, but at the same time it is also relative. The meaning that a person puts into it depends on what he considers the main thing in life.
If for you age is the "number of years from birth", confirming that your physical body (and this is a natural process) is gradually but non-stop aging, and if you see your happiness in looking young and beautiful for longer, I am afraid, I cannot please you with anything. Your happiness will be short-lived: even the best plastic surgeons sooner or later turn out to be powerless before the powerful laws of Nature.
Perhaps you are one of those for whom there are two "ages" - "youth", which lasts as long as you are free, as long as you live for yourself, diligently avoiding responsibility, difficulties, trials and decision-making; and “the end of youth” - when a “happy” life ends, because different responsibilities, problems and serious life tasks appear, and this becomes the cause of chronic depression and dissatisfaction with oneself.
Then, most likely, you simply refuse to grow up. Some psychologists call such people aging children … Not too flattering, especially since others consider you not young, but touchingly helpless or funny, even if you are not that many years old.
Or maybe you associate the concept of age primarily with the state of mind and consciousness and least of all with the physiological changes of the human body. In this case, your approach is deeply philosophical.
Young is he who, regardless of age, has a living heart, a living and seeking mind, who preserves the youth of the soul. His life is filled with meaning, which he finds thanks to incessant searches and efforts, strongly, subtly and deeply living everything that happens to him, thanks to the wealth of his inner world. And a person of any age ages prematurely quickly, if his heart becomes callous, his soul and mind are empty, and life is devoid of meaning.
Anyone who does not recognize and overcomes barriers, restrictions that prevent the best qualities of mind, soul and heart from manifesting remains young. Anyone who falls into the trap of these limitations and circumstances becomes old.
Age cycles
According to many ancient and modern philosophical and religious teachings, astrological and psychological concepts, human life is arranged in the image and likeness of the life of Nature and the Universe. It is only one large cycle of existence within other, even greater cycles of the mysterious process of Evolution, which the limited human mind cannot comprehend.
The philosophers of antiquity spoke of seven most important seven-year age cycles (they are counted starting from birth), in each of which conditions are given for the development of one of the seven planes of human existence. Thus, during his life he receives all the possibilities for the holistic and versatile development of his Spirit, mind and body.
This ancient concept has been significantly expanded by modern astrology, especially the famous School of Humanistic Astrology. The Swiss astrologer A. Ruperti calls age a fertile soil, in which deep experience ripens and a person's consciousness awakens, the treasures of his Soul are revealed, passing through the natural stages of its development.
He draws attention to the fact that in different age cycles one and the same event often acquires completely different meanings: its meaning changes, a person's reaction changes, the lessons that he must learn, and the qualities of the soul and mind that must be revealed.
Astrologer D. Rudyar finds an interesting connection between the full cycle of integral human development during life and the full 84-year cycle of the planet Uranus.
The cycle of Uranus, in relation to human life, astrologers divide into stages in different ways: they talk about seven cycles of 12 years each, about 12 cycles of seven years and three cycles of 28 years each. Most often, 12 cycles of seven years are considered. Rudhyar advises to consider the first 10 seven-year cycles, from 0 to 70, since after that the repetition begins on a different level of what has already been passed.
Years of "exams"
If the Uranus cycle is divided into three periods of 28 years each, then the 0th (year of birth), 28th, 56th and 84th years of life become key for human development. They are called critical, turning points in the deepest sense of the word - it is during these years that the most powerful tests are given, drawing a line under what has already been lived, passed. They have the most real Hamlet's "to be or not to be?"
It depends on how these life exams are passed whether the fate of a person will radically change, whether he will step into a new life or remain in an old one, condemning his soul to a slow death, even if it is painless.
From birth to 7 years
A small, just born man is not yet adapted to the new conditions of life in matter, and therefore, as legends say, Fate gives him a friend and helper, an unearthly creature - a guardian angel. According to ancient traditions, each child under the age of seven has his own guardian angel.
It protects the baby from all the dangers of life until he gets to his feet, and, most importantly, helps to maintain contact with the heavenly world, where the child came from, and the world of his own soul.
If the child's attention has not yet been completely absorbed by material things and hobbies, if his soul has not yet hardened and retained immediacy and purity, then communication with the guardian angel can become the beginning of the formation of his inner world. This is how the first questions about the meaning of life, about the beautiful and about the universe arise, the first dreams and aspirations are born, and the craving for the innermost and the magical remains for life.
All this is reflected in the games, drawings, stories of the child, and from them parents can get the most valuable information about the other, intimate, side of their child's life.
This inner sensitivity, the ability to see with the eyes of the heart and feel the soul of beings and things, will culminate at the age of five, then sharply decrease, and after seven years it will disappear altogether if it is not strengthened in the child's consciousness before school age begins.
We omit the rest, adding only one. Do not indulge the whims of your child! Even before school, the child must understand that he is not the center of the universe! If it is not possible to instill in him an elementary understanding of what is possible and what is not, then it will be very difficult to cope with it, and emotional outbursts can last a lifetime.
The age period up to seven years is extremely important, because everything that happens at this time will in one way or another affect later life. If, for example, at this age there is no calcium in the child's food, then the body will suffer. If in a child's life there is not enough love, warmth and parental authority, friendship and understanding, then throughout the rest of his life the person will feel deprived and will experience enormous difficulties, building relationships with other people and trying to adapt to the social environment. But if at this age the child does not have enough food for the soul - his whole life can be wasted, he may never understand why he was born and why he lived.
7-14 years old
A child at this age begins to be very clearly aware of his inner self and separate himself from his environment. Simultaneously and gradually, an important need awakens in him: to evaluate, reason, behave like an adult and strive to be perceived as such.
The wisdom of the heart is replaced by the logic of the head, and the internal dialogue with the soul of beings and objects is replaced by a dialogue with the outside world. Television, school, family and the environment make their contribution to this significant change in consciousness, that is, the entire education system, the system of norms and principles of social behavior, as well as laws reflecting a specific life reality that he must gradually master.
Therefore, at this age, the role of parents and adults as teachers and mentors is extremely important, whose authority is based not on an indicative flogging or indicative encouragement, but on deep mutual trust: when there is someone who knows more - an example, a kind of ideal, and one who knows less who recognizes this example and therefore follows it.
In the age cycle of 7-14 years, the main energy resources and potentials awaken in the child, so he becomes very active, dynamic, mobile, and his mind and inner world become just as dynamic, active and mobile. Few adults notice a spiritual hunger awakening at this age, a growing thirst for knowledge. The child is interested in everything - from the structure of the world to the structure of the car …
His curiosity is burning, sincere, infectious. It gives a wonderful opportunity for parents too - to shake off the old days, return to youth, feel an amazing, genuine interest in everything that happens. And the most beautiful thing is when we suddenly cease to understand who is pushing whom to discover - the child us with his childish interest and ability to be surprised, or we are inspired by his adult person, in whom the child's soul spoke again.
And perhaps, by missing this chance, we condemn our children to a mediocre life.
14 to 21 years old
Each age cycle has its own problems, but the adolescent crisis is different from all others. With its scale, drama and the number of characters involved in it, it resembles a real tragedy - Shakespeare is resting!
On the one hand, a violent reaction, whims, feelings, unpredictable behavior and thinking, romantic outbursts and a serious hobby for one or the other, and then - depression, passivity, laziness, isolation, worries about their "freshly realized" complexes, which made the teenage age.
All the fuss is flaring up due to the fact that, despite the accelerated growth, physiological maturation and obvious external signs of an adult, our hero in many ways remains a child, naive and restless and, deep down, wants to be taken care of, protected, fenced off from the difficulties of life.
On the other hand, he is well aware that childhood has already ended. That he is already a mature person - that is how he should look in his own eyes and, which is especially important, in the eyes of others. And if a child in a teenager takes over, then the adult in him immediately tries to get rid of this child, tries not to show him.
All this becomes the cause of confusion and self-doubt. Trying to hide them and wanting to look confident, the teenager rushes from one extreme to another, behaving unnaturally.
His idea of himself is idealized, and his demands on himself and the environment are overstated. This primarily concerns the appearance, which becomes the main subject of concern.
A feeling of sexual inferiority is especially burdensome at this age. "What if I have something wrong?" - adolescents often ask such a question, and an attempt to answer it generates additional complexes and sufferings: fear of the first time, shyness, shyness, fear of not being up to par, fears that inharmonious proportions and shortcomings of his body will cause laughter …
In this age cycle, parents should not leave their child unsupported and allow him to struggle with problems alone. Indifference will not accelerate the resolution of such crises. Calm, serious conversations will calm the teenager, help to sort out a variety of issues and, most importantly, not to get hung up on such experiences. Parents must show that in the life of a mature person there is something different, more important, interesting and inspiring … Otherwise, we risk raising a neurotic and pathologically preoccupied person with his person.
To help a teenager discover other horizons, you don't need to invent anything: his inner world is constantly expanding and filled with a wide variety of interests, subtle experiences of beauty, romantic dreams and dreams. Adults only need to help a teenager discover the treasures of his inner world. After all, he is essentially an incorrigible romantic and idealist. He lives with high feelings and inspiration, and therefore sometimes he feels the strength to move mountains, just give him free rein!
The soul of a teenager is that fertile ground on which the first shoots of true abilities, talents, aspirations and revelations appear. Then they will form his inner core and the meaning of life.
And most importantly: if at the previous stage the child needed a parent-teacher, now he needs a parent-friend. He needs someone who could become a mirror of his feelings and experiences, someone who can be trusted with any secret. A teenager opens up only to those who have touched some thin string of his soul, his inner world. With the rest he will behave formally, sensitively feeling false and insincere, sometimes perceiving an attempt to get closer as an "attack on himself" … In response, alienation is born, which can develop into protest. Parents should treat their teenager as an adult, remembering to approach him slowly, sincerely, and not demanding anything in return.
As a rule, everything ends safely by the age of 18-19, with the attainment of majority. A young man and a girl is faced with another task - to become independent and independent both physically and mentally, especially in relation to parents and family.
21 to 28 years old
It is believed that a young man at this age may already be responsible for his actions. Can marry, vote, choose a profession and hobby, work and provide for himself, live independently.
Here it is, the long-awaited freedom: I choose who I want, I do what I want, I myself am the master of my own destiny and manage it at my own discretion, I want - I do stupid things, I want - I take myself in hand, no one stands above me, I do not owe anyone to report!.. That's right, there is only one small "but".
At this age, the complex process of becoming a "full member of society" reaches its culmination. With an adult young man, society no longer stands on ceremony, it takes off all masks, and it becomes clear that the cruel laws of the jungle rule them and that in fact you have only two ways: either to adapt to these laws, to perceive them as an inevitable evil, if you want live in peace and prosperity, or still fight for your own individuality and moral criteria, knowing that you risk being destroyed at any moment by these same laws.
This is the essence of the crisis of the life cycle of 21-28 years, this is the main task of the great maturity exam - to survive in any way, but not to destroy the soul. In this struggle for survival, two basic life principles collide face to face: material and spiritual. The fate of a person depends on which of them will be stronger, which will win.
It can be solved thanks to one flash of intuition, one action at the behest of the heart, but in the same way we can destroy it with our own hands if our intuition, our soul and heart "do not work" at the right time.
At this age, we are like people who are going to build a house. Everything that happens to us at this stage, all our efforts, revelations and cognitions become "building materials" that we collect bit by bit. We will begin to build the building itself only in the next cycle of life. But it is precisely from the material that was accumulated in the period of 21-28 years that this must be remembered. Then it will be much more difficult to find the missing elements.
28 to 35 years old
We often hear the catchphrase: “I have set myself a deadline of 30 years. By this time, you have to do a lot: take a walk and settle down, enjoy a free life and start a family, live on the parents' funds and find a well-paid job, defend a candidate's, maybe even a doctoral one."
As if after 30 years life ends and what you do not have time to achieve before that time, you can hardly catch up later. As a result, many major mistakes are made, hasty decisions are made, a lot of conflicts and complexes arise. We want to sit on several chairs at the same time, we want to have everything at once - and we get nothing.
Our life turns into a constant race and bustle, days are scheduled by the minute, and still we do not have enough time. Just as often, we allow ourselves to the other extreme - routine, boredom, passivity, up to periodic depression, the cause of which is external and internal fatigue.
But in rare moments of stopping, our second nature, repressed somewhere deep in the subconscious, makes itself felt. The soul of a romantic, a poet, an artist is tearing out, and in these moments we do not recognize ourselves. The inexplicable inner nostalgia is very strong.
The soul asks to truly love and be loved, asks for purity of heart and purity of relationships, asks for adventure, asks for beauty in all its manifestations. Music, poetry, books, nature - all this again becomes relevant. Sometimes our soul of a philosopher and scientist, thirsty for knowledge, breaks out. Suddenly we begin to ask questions about God, about the meaning of life, about purpose. Suddenly we realize how narrow our horizons are and how many interesting things we do not know and have missed. We want to learn, learn, develop abilities and talents, discover the world and people.
The task of the age cycle of 28–35 years is to give free rein to these deep and sincere needs and aspirations of the soul, to reveal, develop and strengthen them.
For in this way, fate gives us a chance to find ourselves, open our Path, open one or another facet of our meaning in life. It is at this age that it is easiest to see him, and, oddly enough, it is at this age that life circumstances allow at least a small fraction of what has been discovered to be realized.
If the chance is missed, if our second nature does not receive the necessary food to develop, the consequences will be almost minimal until the age of 35: only deep nostalgia for real, genuine life and dissatisfaction with ourselves will remain. But already in the next age cycle, after 35 years, it can turn into a deep crisis - the famous “midlife crisis”.
Chances at this age do not fall from the sky, but come along with a fundamental rethinking of everything that came before, and are accompanied by rather difficult tests.
Everything piles up - on the one hand, there are many important and difficult problems that need to be solved at the same time, while all the usual, stereotyped ways of solving them are no longer suitable. On the other hand, fate suddenly sends opportunities that were not there before. Each of them has its own pros and cons, and we are required to make a choice, clearly realizing that it is the only correct one and will last for a long time.
In fact, the choice we make is always the same: either the head or the heart. Or we choose a stable and calm life, ignoring the needs of the soul and heart, condemning ourselves to an empty and meaningless life. Or we choose the needs of the soul and heart, sacrificing much of what provided us with a stable and peaceful life.
Our choice must be conscious and independent. We ourselves must understand whether we found it or not, whether we made a mistake once again, being responsible for our decisions and actions. The correct decision cannot be made without answering two eternally relevant questions: 1) what does not suit me in my previous life and why (the criterion is the needs of the soul and heart), 2) what is most important for me, why, why and for whom I live (the same criterion) …
Finding your way isn't easy. You need to be patient and persistent, for there is a long way of trial and error to go. The main thing is not to give up ahead of time and not to compromise with your soul, heart or conscience. Luck is always a reward for courage, perseverance, faith, patience and, of course, love.
One way or another, if before this period the material and spiritual principles were still fighting in a person, then at this age he was already ripe in order to choose, finally and irrevocably, one of the two.
It is not without reason that it is said that all subsequent age cycles are a kind of continuation of the cycle of 28–35 years, and what will happen next largely depends on how we lived this key period of our life, what was discovered in it and what priorities were set.
35 to 42 years old
During this period, a person experiences the famous "midlife crisis" or "midlife crisis", which becomes a natural continuation of the incompletely lived previous - key - stage of life, a sad consequence of all the opportunities missed in it.
We again begin to think about what “we should have thought about before” and ask questions that should have been answered earlier.
This crisis is different for everyone. But sooner or later, the soul again begins to torment the questions: “Why is all this?”, “Is this my life?”, “Am I following that path?”, “Why do I exist?”, “What is all this for? ? ". A person feels very lonely - internally and sometimes externally. And most of all, the feeling that there is not enough time for "real life" and that it is impossible, as before, to postpone it "for later".
The processes taking place during a crisis are only indirectly related to external circumstances. Therefore, many psychologists agree that such a crisis is not age-related, but deeply spiritual.
As C. G. Jung said, at this age a person again gets the opportunity to hear the voice of his Soul, his Self. He and his life must radically change, and all the conditions have been created for this. Spirituality should take the place of rationality, Wisdom of the heart - the place of the logic of the mind.
In fact, a midlife crisis is another chance to change everything. If it is overcome successfully and we find the missing links necessary for our life to acquire a new meaning, its result can be a deep spiritual rebirth, expansion of consciousness, a new vision of the world and our purpose, and the acquisition of individuality. This is confirmed by the experience of many outstanding people who experienced an acute spiritual crisis at about 40 years old. For the same reason, many people at about 40 years old change their family, profession, lifestyle and start from scratch.
Often, unfortunately, a person manages to sleep through this opportunity, to drown out the voice of his Soul. However, you cannot run away from yourself. Sad consequences await those who succeed. Such people can turn out to be petty, embittered and confused old people, whose lonely life will be filled only with illness, gossip and the expectation of death.
Even for those who have already found the meaning of life and what they love, this period turns out to be by no means easy. It is not enough to find the meaning, it is not enough to know where we are going and what we want - now we have to correspond to all this. In this case, the “midlife crisis” manifests itself in a painful awareness of the discrepancy between the height and beauty of the business or purpose that a person has chosen and his real abilities and capabilities. And again the same deep rethinking begins, attempts to become better and to do better, to overcome the boundaries of knowledge and possibilities, to destroy stereotypes.
And again the same effort to hear the voice of the Soul in a different way, to open up other people and the world around in a new way.
42 to 49 years old
It's not a secret for anyone that by this age, relationships with loved ones usually turn into a habit, they lose their characteristic warmth, tenderness, depth and strength. From time to time, any relationship requires its rethinking, renewal or revival. This age gives a unique chance to do it once and for all or to love your loved ones in a new way, if all these years our feeling has withstood all the tests. And for this we will have to answer the question again: “What binds us, what unites us, what keeps us together? Habit? dependence on each other? material benefit? friendship? love? responsibility for others? common cause, aspirations, dreams? or both, and another, and the third?"
If in the previous cycle I had to answer the question once and for all what is the main thing in my life, then at this age once and for all it is necessary to answer the question: what is the main thing in my relations with close people and the world around me?
This age gives a unique chance to re-cognize Love - its most diverse forms and states - and to strengthen the bonds of the heart that connect us with other people.
Spouses who managed to go through all crises together, by the age of 45, feel renewed feelings and relationships, and not because they suddenly change for the better, they just stop blaming each other for their own problems.
At this age, love can become not only the core of life, but also an inexhaustible source of creative inspiration and strength.
Thanks to the confidence that we are not only in demand, but needed by others, we can have many new ideas, beginnings and creative plans that will benefit many.
Given the amazing opportunities that open up at this age, one must remember not only that all ages are submissive to love, but also that love cannot be replaced by surrogates. Therefore, do not immerse yourself in the virtual reality of TV series and romance novels and do not create the illusion that it will become a substitute for what is missing in life. Also (especially for men) do not think that meeting a young lady, before whom you can assert yourself, feel like a person who has not yet lost the physical attractiveness and potency of youth, will automatically "provide" love. Do not try to run away from your age, do not convince yourself and others that you are younger than you really are. Mature age has its own beauty and strength, which few people leave indifferent.
