Showing posts with label developmental stage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label developmental stage. Show all posts

1/05/2012

Aging: Where Are We Going?


 By: Richard Failla, CEO

There are a great many 'Baby Boomers' who will turn 65 this year. For those of us who grew up with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Woodstock, and Vietnam Nam, what now? What's the next developmental stage? Will we as the poet Dylan Thomas said 'go gentle into that good night', or will we storm and rage at the sight?

Carl Jung, the Psychoanalyst, suggested a stage of development that pointed toward spiritual development. When the body no longer helps focus on the physical achievements of life it is time to focus on our spiritual selves. Erick Erickson spoke of Generativity versus Stagnation. Generativity is motivated by us passing on to our younger colleagues all that we have learned from our years of contributions to our families and our careers. The final stage for Erickson is how we resolve Ego Integrity versus despair. It's in this stage that we accept who we are and where we are in life.