Human stages of life

I WROTE editorials about human life, culture, the impact of technology, industrialization and economic conditions on human life, different generations and generation gaps, the impact of democracy, communism and socialism on the human thinking process, and overall human endeavor.

This is the last of my series on these subjects. Today I want to write about different stages of human life. What are the major stages of human life? There are mainly 4 stages - babyhood, childhood, adulthood and old age. Then there is early childhood after babyhood from 2 to 6 years when innocence and ignorance prevail. Then late childhood from 7 years till teen age or 13 years, when early learning starts able to read, calculate, understand better and communicate with some sense and ultimately reach puberty. Then adolescence, the transition from teenage to adulthood during which time, psychological, physical and cultural expressions begin.

Human Life is classified into 8 stages

1, Infancy and Play Age – 0 to 5 years

2. School Age – 6 to 12 years

3. Adolescence – 13 to 19 years

4. Early Adulthood – 20 to 25 years

5. Late Young Adulthood – 26 to 39 years

6. Middle Adulthood – 40 to 50 years

7. Late Adulthood – 51 to 64 years

8. Old age – 65 years and beyond

I have passed all stages and am in my final stage. If you ask me whether you remember your life in all seven stages until you reached the eighth stage, I can say I remember most of the things that happened last few years. We remember many things that happened in our lives, but not in an orderly manner. When we go through the stages, it is an automatic process, we don’t think about the stages, those around us, socially parents watch and experience your stages until they are alive, you reach 50 or 60 or late adulthood. Grandparents could probably watch up to early adulthood. That is what people my age are doing, watching the stages of life of children and grandchildren. 

In my last editorial, I wrote about travelling through the memory lanes; when I do that, I miss many things in my life and at the same time remember some important incidents that we could never forget. I can never remember the turn of events when I changed into different stages. When we lead our normal lives, we do not think about the stages, we go through these stages automatically. 

As an infant and play age, you are looked after by somebody, helping to talk and identify mother, father, sister, brother, grandfather and grandmother and at this stage, the human being gets maximum love, affection and care. Depending on where and in which family the child is born, whether born in a poor family, middle-class family or rich family, they should get the same love and affection and the care may not be similar, which will have an impact on the child. 

Same way when the child grows into school age, these differences in the economic status of the family may have an impact, but the impact is more if it is a broken family or the husband is alcoholic and abusive, or stepmother. This issue will continue during adolescence. Good parents, who want to rear their children as good human beings, shall teach those good manners and behaviors, love them a lot, teach them how to be independent and help them get a good education. These two stages - the school age and adolescence - are the two most stages in which the personality is developed.

Now comes early adulthood, which probably is the most important stage to watch. Most human beings become independent in early adulthood, develop opinions and try to make decisions about their future.

Parents should give them the freedom to make their decision and at the same time provide good advice and support. During late young adulthood, the person builds the career or business if involved and also starts building the family and becoming fully independent. By middle adulthood, the person must all send to continue a life of his own with friends and family. Late adulthood is preparation for retirement and at the same time, helping the children build their future. Old agers are the start of a real relaxed life for most people to enjoy life with friends, family, children and grandchildren.

Old age can also be sometimes bad, with health issues for some, money issues for others and loneliness for many. What I defined are normal stages of life for most people, but there are many who suffer, get into wrong behavior and trouble, some face health issues and some die early. I urge you to watch and analyze the various stages of life of people around you and it will be interesting to notice the differences between individuals.

World Malayalee Voice wishes you a peaceful and joyful Holiday Season, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.