The 7-Year Stages of Life
Long ago people sensed an order in life that we, in the modern age often fail to see. Among the more important lessons that traditional people drew from such an order was that every stage of life offers a specific set of challenges and lessons that add to our maturity and support our individuality.
Each stage, is composed of seven years, and each cycle offers its own challenges and rewards. If we confront these lessons with courage, honesty, and sincerity, the lessons will be mastered and our psychological and spiritual development will bring forth great rewards. The stages can be described as follows:-
AGE 0 to 7: From Oneness with the World to Growing Autonomy
We are never more dependent in life than we are at birth and during the early years of our lives. Yet, we naturally move away from our mothers toward a growing sense of our own individuality and autonomy. This is the lesson of the first stage of life – the experience of utter dependence, followed by a natural movement away from this toward a growing sense of our own individuality and power.
AGE 7 TO 14: A Fight for, and Commitment To, Life
Huge energetic shifts take place. The body’s life force takes the next step of grounding more fully into the physical body in order to meet the challenges to life. Childhood illnesses peak and body develops its immune system. When the diseases are defeated, a rebirth takes place, marked by hormonal changes that move us into puberty. We have landed and are now incarnating as a sexual being.
AGE 14 TO 21. Wild Emotions, Raging Hormones, Sexuality
This phase of life is dominated by often unruly and confusing emotional energies. This turbulence is reflected in the unpredictability of our relationships. We form friendships that somehow turn into conflicts and betrayal. We become infatuated, fall in love, establish intense romantic attachments, and just as easily fall out of love, often resulting in great pain and enormous emotional dramas. In other words, we’re a mess. We are little prepared for such a turbulence, which is why this period seems so confusing and filled with mistakes in judgment and behaviour.
AGES 21 TO 28. Play That Turns Toward Responsibility
In the early and middle 20s, we gain a modicum of control over our emotions and start to integrate our rational faculties, which give us greater control over our actions. During these years, most people are healthy, full of energy, and lusting for life. Meanwhile, our physical powers are peaking. It’s common for young people to feel a certain invincibility and even arrogance. People at this age are often possessed by wild enthusiasm, independence, and recklessness. They take risks, play hard, and often make mistakes.
AGE 28 TO 35. The Body in Full Bloom
Many people become highly competitive with others during this period. Our ambitions and desires to get ahead can cloud our vision, forcing us to see people and situations in simplistic contrasts of friend or foe, black or white. We are being challenged to look beyond these simple formulas and see more deeply into the complexity of people and of life.
AGE 35 TO 42. Crisis and Questioning
During this period, crisis hits. Usually that crisis occurs when we are in our early 40s, as opposed to the mid-30s. In any event, many of us experience being cut down by events that seem beyond our control. And in the process, we experience disappointment and a sense of failure. The most common of these disappointments are divorce, or the collapse of a business, or financial strife. Others suffer a health crisis of one kind or another.
AGE 42 TO 49. Soul Searching and Wonder
The 40s are a time of hard work and of laying a strong foundation for our lives. We develop our own value and work hard to establish a true competence and expertise in our chosen field. Meanwhile, as we approach the age of 49, we become increasingly aware of a great transition in life. Children are moving away from home. We are freed from old responsibilities of family and child-rearing. Women enter menopause or become perimenopausal. The burden of childbearing is lifted. You’re more settled, grounded, and adept at living life. Meanwhile, we sense big changes ahead, as our 50s approach.
AGE 49 TO 56. An Ever-growing Vision and Understanding of Life
The gift of the 50s is inspiration, mastery, and growing power. We are blessed with a wealth of experience, which has given us a certain wisdom. If we have integrated the gifts and ideals of the previous cycles, and developed our souls, we naturally emerge as important guides and leaders in our communities and society at large. It is the start of a new period of mastery and personal power.
AGE 56 TO 63. The Crossroads: Mastery or Re-evaluation.
At this point, new intuitive and spiritual powers emerge into consciousness, especially if you have been guided through life by your heart and soul. Your intuition is now the single most important sense, guiding you to your answers and giving you direction in life. It is the basis for your sense of connection with the Source. And as that connection grows, you experience greater relaxation and comfort with life. All of this occurs as your true dream for living emerges into consciousness with greater clarity and power. You feel called to a mission and you begin to devote all your talents, understanding, and wisdom to a cause greater than your own personal needs and ambitions.
AGE 63 TO 70. A Time of Harvesting and Spreading the Wealth.
This period is a time of blessing, grace, and opportunity. In traditional communities, these were the elders, those who were turned to for their wisdom, vision, and intuitive gifts. We have been freed from the struggles of life. Yet, we may still have considerable energy and vitality. We are teachers, advisors, guides, and sources of inspiration to others. This is the period when we wish to give back to the those who come after us, and are still embroiled in the struggles of life. It is a time of great power and reward. We still care deeply about the struggles of others, yet we are no longer bound by those struggles ourselves. Our main tether to society is our love and caring and the knowledge that others still need the gift of our experience, wisdom, and guidance.
AGE 7O AND BEYOND. Reflection.
During this period, you are no longer bound by any responsibility to others. It is a time when you assess and take stock of your life, reflecting on the past, and experiencing the richness of the present. You are at the threshold of rebirth into the next world and you are preparing yourself for that next adventure. You are awaiting the call.
There are blessings at every stage of life. All traditional cultures maintained that life improved as we go older. That is not the message so many of us are given in this youth-oriented world of ours. Nevertheless, there is still truth in the fact that as others have said – the best years are ahead of us, if we follow the dictates of the heart and develop the awesome powers of our souls.