Many people interested in philosophy and personality development have heard about seven-year cycles of human life. Of course, the theory is not entirely unambiguous and has certain exceptions, which is why it is actively criticized by some experts. However, to understand such a cycle will be not only interesting, but also useful.
What are these cycles?
To begin with, there is a theory that every seven years a person changes significantly. This is a period that is enough to accumulate experience, allowing you to go to the next stage of development. The transition is associated with a significant change in worldview, perception of the world, finding your place and goals in it.
It is because of this that seven years, fourteen, twenty-one, and so on, are in crisis. However, one should not immediately perceive these years as something negative. It’s just a rethinking and change of a person as a person. There can be no growth without this. The number of cycles can vary significantly - each specialist who studies this topic gives certain theses in defense of his theory. Some speak of 12 cycles of human life, while others believe that they are much smaller - about seven or eight. Well, it is rather difficult to unequivocally answer such a question.
Why know this?
Now we turn to the next question: why do we need to understand the cyclical nature of life? This is a really valuable skill, and it is of interest not only from a theoretical point of view, but also from a purely practical one.
Having an idea of the seven-year cycles of a person’s life, you can learn much better to understand others, to establish relationships with loved ones (parents, children, other relatives). Indeed, knowing that a person appreciates most of all at one age or another, what goals he aspires to, it becomes much easier to find a common language with him. Therefore, it will be useful not only to learn about 7-year cycles in human life, but also to remember how they differ. We proceed directly to the description.
From 0 to 7 years
According to some experts, the most important of human life cycles. Until the age of 7, he is an integral part of the mother and cannot imagine his life without her. Often even separation for several days becomes a serious tragedy for him, which, fortunately, is quickly forgotten as soon as his mother returns and continues to give him love. The child has the first information about the world. This includes both the first sensations (the warmth of the mother, the taste of her milk, voice), as well as the more complex ones - the development of a vast world (the smell of freshly cut grass, the taste of various products, sand underfoot, and much more). That is, in one cycle, there is a transition from absolute security under the supervision of a mother to the first exit into the cold, cruel world around.
Experts often call the first cycle root strengthening time. The child actively absorbs any information about the world around him, learns what is permissible and what is not, what is fraught with danger, and what is of particular value.
Some experts argue that it is during the first cycle that all skills are laid - subsequently they can be developed or not, but it will be very difficult to instill new ones. Therefore, the child should try as much as possible: to test himself in sports (swimming, running, long walks), intellectual leisure (simple board games, checkers, reading) and art (drawings, listening to classical music, first learned songs). It is equally important to develop communication skills in him - he must communicate with peers a lot and actively.
All this time the child should be surrounded by motherly love - strict, but all-forgiving.
Thanks to the foundation laid up to seven years, he gets the opportunity over time to become a strong, intelligent, talented and confident person.
From 7 to 14 years
The second and very important family cycle in human life. Here the child turns into a teenager. Therefore, relationships with the mother fade into the background - now the father becomes a closer person. Perhaps this is due to the fact that any strong, adult man, no matter how serious and successful he may be, remains a playful boy deep in his soul. It is with the dad that the child spends a lot of time, learns the world around him not as holistically as before, but more objectively, showing certain interests.
A teenager approaches the perception of the world very subjectively and passes it through himself. He compares his personality with others, choosing guidelines and absorbing norms. The whole world is known from the position of egocentrism, such as "this one is higher than me", "this one is thicker than me", "this one is dumber than me." This is a completely normal approach, allowing the teenager not only to find his place in the world, but also to change if necessary. Subsequently, it will be much more difficult to change. And of course, here should be next to a father who is always ready to help in any undertaking.
From 14 years to 21 years
Speaking about the cycles in nature and human life, it is worth noting that this is the most dangerous for a teenager turning into an adult. Since it is associated with rebellion.
Yesterday’s teenager, accustomed to unconditionally obeying the requirements of his parents, turns into an adult himself (yes, it’s an adult, all the talk about eighteen-year-old children is clearly untenable - childhood is artificially extended, which can be easily seen if you look at 15-year-olds two or three centuries ago) and no longer wants to obey the rules. He wants to install them himself. If necessary, he is ready to destroy the surrounding structures.
First, the conflict occurs in the family, and then the uprising covers the world. All that the elders do not like is already good. Ugly clothes? Inconsistent music? A systematic violation of the rules? Everything will do the trick!
A person is no longer part of the family, becoming a separate person, still solitary. She has to find her own place in life. Acting on an almost adult is very difficult, especially to yesterday's authorities - mother and father. Their child (yes, for them he will forever remain a baby) must independently fill the bumps. And how serious they will be depends on how well-educated and moral are inculcated in previous cycles. Some people (usually brought up in severity, in a conservative style) go through the third cycle easier and without much difficulty, quickly turning into serious, strong and smart people who have something to remember. Others, having gone through liberal and excessively mild upbringing, can become stuck in the cycle forever, refusing to grow up, seek serious work, establish long-term relationships, and take on any obligations.
From 21 to 28 years old
Teenage riot has passed. The first bumps are full. Already an adult guy or girl is well aware that parents were right in many cases that previously caused controversy.
After a cycle of loneliness, the search for a suitable partner begins. For some, this happens at the beginning of the fourth cycle, and for others at the end. It depends not only on upbringing, but also on the temperament and habits of a particular individual.
At the same time, a person begins to fear the lack of change. It seems that all childhood dreams have sunk into oblivion, to achieve something just does not work. At this time, it is very important to find the exact guidelines (if they were not laid down in the family) and follow them. There must be a definite goal: for some it is a sporting achievement, for some it is charity, and for some it is just the purchase of an expensive smartphone or branded clothing.
We can say with confidence: over time, the depression accompanying the collapse of children's dreams (to become a famous actor, president, athlete or oligarch) will pass. The main thing is to survive these difficult years.
From 28 to 35 years old
If you make a schedule of seven-year cycles of a person’s life, then this cycle would become very ambiguous.
Often it depends on how the previous cycles went, especially the first two. With proper upbringing, a person creates a strong cell of society, successfully moves up the career ladder, achieves success in the field that interests him, if necessary, changes his job. He is confident in himself, has precise guidelines and does not deviate from them.
It is much worse if mistakes were made during the upbringing. This leads to the most sad consequences - the destruction of marriage, missed opportunities, lack of interesting areas and hobbies. Such problems are most often called a midlife crisis. A weak person after losing everything that was of interest before can start to roll downhill, start to abuse alcohol and even switch to drugs, which will surely ruin a person’s life.
35 to 42 years old
The cycle is very similar to the previous one - you can call it a restart. However, at 35, a person is much wiser and more experienced than at 28. Therefore, mistakes are made less often, but if they are made, they become more serious.
Divorced women try to get married again or get married - taking into account the mistakes that led to the destruction of the first marriage. Quite often, the place of work changes. Now it is not the prestige of the work that comes to the fore, but the degree of freedom it gives. A person understands that spending a third of his life in conditions that do not suit him is simply stupid - and even the money that he earns there will not be worthy of compensation. Some scold the work and threaten to quit it, but if they still have not done so, then they are quite satisfied at heart.
42 to 49 years old
A rather complicated and ambiguous period - everything that happens here depends on how the previous cycles went and how they affected a person.
Some people rush headlong into the abyss of materialism. They are buying new cars, making lovers, rubbing money - all this to rise in the eyes of others.
Others, who really achieved their goals and believe in themselves, the correctness of the chosen path, continue to develop spiritually. This does not mean going to the monastery. A person just starts to think more about eternal things, paying less attention to expensive clothes, branded watches and smartphones. He is also asked philosophical problems: why are we here? What should do?
49 to 56 years old
Most people who normally went through all the cycles by this time become calm, wise, self-confident. They are not interested in petty vanity, fleeting hobbies - they have already crossed the threshold of half a century and know exactly what they want from life. Most often this is peace, close people around, comparative wealth.
However, not everyone becomes passive. Often, on the contrary, many people, when they retire and get enough free time, experience repeated youth - they start new hobbies and begin to travel. One involuntarily recalls the classic saying of one postman: "I am just starting to live. I am retiring." And this joke is not so far from the truth.
What then?
Of course, after 56 years, life does not end. Just a sharp qualitative change is no longer happening. In humans, the previous cycle continues, only at first increasing quantitatively, and then slowly dying away - simply for physiological reasons. Rethinking of values, a change in worldview no longer takes place - it’s too late at age 60 to change the habits by which I have lived all my life.
Do loops always work?
Of course, cycles do not always coincide exactly with age. Therefore, the habit of measuring cycles in a person’s life by date of birth can be considered erroneous.
Much depends on the environment and experienced shocks, stresses. To survive in hostile conditions, children have to change, actively develop. As a result, the first cycle may well end in 5 years, and the second in ten, of course, this will greatly shift the further ones.
Moreover, not only hostile conditions lead to this, but also proper education, just an eventful life. This allows you to quickly accumulate experience, spend less time on making mistakes and correcting them. Of course, with this approach, people reach maximum heights and manage to do more in life.
