THE GREAT PHASES
CHILDHOOD
We are brought into this first phase of life in a time and place chosen for us that dictates much of what we must work through on our lives. We do not choose our parents nor our cultures. Upon us this phase can leave us with a story of deep love and a foundation for self confidence and an appreciation of family, or it can leave us feeling like an abused animal, abandoned and pushed out into the street, having to put the pieces of a puzzle back together for what it means to be loved and deserving of a good life. Of course we have everything in between these two extremes to which we can explore a bit further.
DEEP DIVE 
ADOLESCENCE
We all know adolescence as our first attempt to feel independent. Of course, the world has not yet let us in, we are still children in the eyes of the world. We are all stuck in the middle of being children and growing up in this phase. Most of us begin to question the wisdom and loves of our parents, and we get to do some stupid things because, hey we're still kids, right? This is a phase we all find our way through, although some mistakenly see this as a highlight of their life, free from responsibility. The take away form adolescence is simply to move forward, so we are not going to do a deep dive here.
YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Welcome to the world. The world is changing as it used to be most people moved out on their own during this phase of life. But with the changing cost of living, more young adults are staying close to home. It would seem that our adult life starts here? I would disagree, because some people jump into adulthood while others postpone this, either through a fear of growing up, a lack of vision as to where they want to go, or perhaps just a need to heal some deep wounds from childhood? I have met people running large companies at age 24, who started in their early twenties and of course, people jobless drinking beer all day. We are still early in life and we can use what seems like a squashed young adulthood as an excuse for staying the same blind fool, when we still have plenty of life to go.
DEEP DIVE
ADULTHOOD
This is truly a time to begin to purge our childhood. Our responsibilities are stacking up and we must begin to live adult lives in every sense. Planted in the world we are starting to fully see the world for what it is. Not just a thing of preparing and getting rewards for our work, but a thing of politics, of strange games and power plays and of not quite being sure who makes the rules for who gets rewarded what. Adulthood reveals that even in our age and wisdom, life is that thing of just showing up, like everyone told us. Our loftiest dreams must give way to the pursuit of living wisely.
DEEP DIVE
MIDDLE AGE
This is one of the most powerful phases in our life. Why? Because it is our gateway from what we perceive as youth to what we perceive as getting old. I say perceive because we do not really know anything about getting old do we. Yet? Something needs to poke us with a big stick and remind us that life is precious, we will get old, and yet we still have time to reinvent our selves and do a gut check on our priorities. This is that time, that big stick. Of all the phases, this one deserves our deepest look.
DEEP DIVE
LATE AGE 1st PHASE
This phase takes us to a place where we are largely forged as a person. We cannot lie and pretend anymore about who we are and the choices we have made or are making, for better or worse. It is a time to truly settle into our selves and for many this is a very special time, maybe even a prime time of our life? Still, we are not yet cement and we are moving into a phase that we need to prepare for or it is going to really whack us upside the head. I have separated our late phase of life into two phases in order to recognize some things that define our tasks at hand.
DEEP DIVE
LATE AGE LAST PHASE
When we think about the part of aging that we fear, it usually lies here. Regardless of how ell we take care of our selves, the timer is going to ring and our bodies are going to start losing the best of what they have to offer, one piece at a time. So, that is one thing to fear. Then we have the loneliness of age, something many people fear even more than physically losing their best health. People in this age bracket do indeed represent some of the most miserable people around. And yet, there are people in this phase of life that have never been happier. That is certainly worthy of a deeper conversation.
DEEP DIVE
