Have you experienced stagnation when you feel that you are stuck somewhere for some time due to reason/s beyond control? You feel like you were a tree that cannot move from where you are then you think that tree is better -- it grows, it gives shadows thru its leaves and foods from fruits.
This is felt when you are in the middle age, between 40 to 64 years old, when you feel that your body is not as strong as before. But as a saying goes, "Life begins at 40."
I belong to that middle-aged group. My children told me to take a rest at home but I have missed a lot of opportunities while rising to some personal challenges for my family members to get through in the past. I want to do more in my remaining life on earth. I know the 'Big Why' and I am chasing it, whatever it takes, no matter how long it takes.
Our life here on earth is limited. The doctor who attended to my father while he was fighting for his life told me that the average lifespan is 65 years old those days, 2008, and his three (3) years was a bonus already. He was to stop the medical devices which extended the life of my vegetating father, with my brother's request to explain things to me in a more practical and scientific way, as up to the last minute I wanted him to stay longer with us.
It is said that with the modern discoveries and inventions thru new technology, the lifespan will be 100 years in the near future. So if you do the calculation, plus 40 minus 40, middle age would be between 40 to 60 years old.
Sometimes other people do not understand those who experience midlife crisis. According to Wikipedia, the term was coined by Elliot Jaques in 1965. It is a phenomenon, a psychological crisis which occurs in middle-aged individuals typically 45-64 years old. One feels depressed and there are anxiety attacks. There is a great desire to look and feel young again and to make drastic changes to the current lifestyle.
I experience this. I feel this. I accept the fact that I have some shortcomings of accomplishments in life, but at the same time, I embrace the truth that while I breathe there is hope that I can still accomplish something and leave a legacy when I am no longer here.
Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson coined the term 'generativity' in 1950, per Wikipedia, to denote "a concern for establishing and guiding the next generation." He accordingly first used the term while defining the Care stage in the theory of the stages of psychosocial development.
My first-born son is 30 years old. I was very happy when he told me that after receiving his salaries he found a way to share some foods with some homeless people. He gets free healthy meals from his company so somehow he does not spend for his foods on workdays. He faces his own storms but despite that, he can make his life count thru some little ways.
We see many people doing the volunteering work, mentoring, consulting, and whatever good for other people and future generations -- mostly for free and with inner joy, which you can feel. So it is about generative self, with generative concern, setting some concrete goals, taking swift actions, to care for, nurture and lead others particularly the next generations. Generativity itself is a legacy.
I am not rich in material things, but I want to passionately mark my life with philanthropic works.
Help me, God, to stay strong and in faith. Please fill my cup abundantly with Your blessings.
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