From birth to death, we are trailblazers of our own destiny. Each path we take, each turn we make helps us learn about ourselves, our world, and, possibly, the nature of our journey.
Developmental psychology has offered many tools to help us along our journey. Erik Erikson theorized the eight stages of human life for which we will traverse. Each stage has its specific challenges we must overcome to continue on our way through life. The first four stages are covered in infancy and childhood; the real journey begins in adolescence.
In adolescence, we struggle forming our identities. Who am I is the question we want answered, but can only be answered by us. In past chapters, we have discussed this journey through adolescence. We have a say in who we are, but we are more influenced than anything else. We are influenced by our parents, our genetics, and the environment we reside in. Even with all these influences, we still have to make the choice on where to go in our lives. Each road we choose leads us further down the path, for better or for worse.
Identity crisis is prevalent in our teen years. This is caused by a new set of intellectual tools which Piaget called operational thought. With this too, we can think about and understand hypothetical and abstract ideas. At this point, we ponder what to do with our lives. A multitude of paths lay before us, it is for us to choose where we want to go. For Christians, this is a slight bit more complicated. Christians want to follow God’s plan for them. The life question of “Who am I” turns into “Whose am I?”
After solving our identity, we seek out intimacy. The question is now, whom do I wish to share the rest of my life with? This want for a significant other is a natural part of life. According to Henri Nouwen, we “desire to experience a sense of inner completeness, a sense of inner unity, because many people feel alone in the world in a very painful way.” (p.49) For intimacy to be possible, both husband and wife must be fully developed up to this point.
We then will focus on the generation that precedes us. This is called generativity. We naturally want to form a legacy that go on after us in the next generation. For those who focus on themselves, they will find themselves unfulfilled. On the other hand, those who focus on helping others will be filled with a new sense of purpose.
Our last stage of our journey is called Ego Integrity. This is the ability to look back on life and see all the places you have been, all the things you have done, and fit them together to make a “worthwhile whole.” (p.50) Ideally, you will acknowledge your mistakes, but feel that, in the end, you did the best you could with what you were given.
Life is said to be a journey. This comparison resonates with Christians. In the book of Acts, we call the Christian walk hodos in Greek, or the way. We are constantly leaving our baggage from each stage behind us as we continue on throughout life, realigning towards the prize of eternal life with Christ.
Life is also said to be like a story. We are the authors, paving the way through a book of happiness and sadness, loss and gain, heroes and villains. We construct our own purpose with each stage in life as the chapters.
This was a very lighthearted chapter compared to some of the others I have read over the last few weeks, almost to the point of being lighthearted. In the end of this chapter, we are asked if we prefer the analogy of a journey, or the analogy of a story for life. Why not both? This is the story of (insert name here)’s life journey. This addresses both the walk with Christ through our lives, and the perspective of human free will. Why doesn’t humanity spend more time in the generativity phase though? It would seem that if more people were concerned about what their legacy was, this world would be a better place. If a man could walk in time and see the ripples his actions caused though the time stream, would he be more cautious? We are such a short sighted people, wanting instant gratification and ignoring the repercussions that seep into the next generation. If a man guided his family in a manner that cared about others to a point where we would have empathy for a stranger, how many generations would that take? You have the problems of outside influences you have to combat, the growing apathetic attitude in this world, and the sinful nature of humans. Do you think that this would benefit from an increase in generativity, and if so, how could we make this possible?
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