As we mature, we go through several stages of life. It’s all unique, but they have an important significance in all our lives. Mindwaft had once written – Seven Ages of Man. They knew it, and not much has changed. Just like a butterfly growing from an ugly caterpillar to a gorgeous creature – people, especially women, also go through certain stages in their life. It molds their womanhood – makes them worthy parents for their children’s’ life. And then there’s something beyond as well –
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A beautiful transformation
Butterflies attract our eyes immediately. They are colorful, bright and one of the most beautiful creatures on this planet. But they are not that beautiful in all the life stages that they go through. They start out as an egg – stuck and without value, vulnerable to predators. Then they break out of this ugly egg phase to become a larva – a maggot-like abomination that children shriek when they come across. They keep eating and develop a new skin over the old, weary one. The old skin continues to be replaced by the new skin five times over and over again. In the fifth time, it hardens. The caterpillar is tired of eating and crawling. It wants to fly. It enters into a cocoon – protecting itself, transforming itself. Suddenly, their wings crack open, and they emerge – a beautiful creature that children chase and photographers click pictures of – a butterfly.
Similarly, we are born as an egg too. Luckily, we don’t begin life in a garden under harsh conditions protected in our mother’s womb. But still, we are born crying and kicking. We are up to experience the stages of life.
The first stage
It’s the time between the ages of 0-10. We don’t know much about the world, but we are curious. And scared. We are willing to grow, and so we eat a lot. Our caretakers are our role models, our idols showing us the way and we absorb their knowledge. Their perception of life is ours too.
The second stage
Ages 11-20 – our hormones kick in. We are interacting more with the outside world and the more we learn about it, the more our inherited perception gets broken. Our parents are no longer perfect, they are flawed, and we don’t like the flawed perception they have fed us. Hormones are raging and coloring all our interaction with our peers and parents. Our skin is grown, we are now on a journey of self-discovery.
Source: rejuvimemedical.comThe third stage
The years 21-30 might just be the happiest days of our lives – love, sex, and independence all come into the mix. We are free to do whatever we want, take risks and personal responsibility, drive to our self-chosen goals. Our risks are our own, but sometimes we are saved from our consequence because we are still kids – not matured enough. While some might follow down the route their parents give them and stay within this cocoon, others move on to enter other stages – more shedding is still left.
The fourth stage
It’s time to settle in the years 31-40. You are a parent now, and the societal expectations that had once seemed terrible are catching on, and you are part of it. You have become like your parents, advising your children and giving them your piece of worldly perception. They are leaving your care now – they are starting the same journey you began 30 years ago. You want them to be safe. On the flip side, you want peace too. Responsibilities are too much, and you really can’t escape them anymore like in your 20s. You would want the world to leave you alone. It won’t – not just yet.
The fifth stage
Your skin has already grown a lot tougher by the time you are in the age of 41-50. Now, it hardens further and encloses you in the chrysalis. It’s not an escape from the world – it’s a transformation. Your wings are formed, it had already formed in the fourth stage. Now, it just needs to be stronger so that you can work it out. It must be strong enough to lift you up. Your mind and body are transforming – they are preparing you to meet with a brand-new world. And all of a sudden, the chrysalis breaks open, and you are in the sunlight and the breeze. You need to exercise a bit to open up those atrophied wings and once that is done – take flight. But you’ll notice something odd – you are not flying, you are swept away by the breeze, and it takes you from flower to flower at its whim. You are free – and nothing can stop you anymore. The breeze and the flower will enrich your 50s and beyond.
Change is inevitable. For us, transformations are important – we can’t stay the same forever. But it will be a bumpy ride. Let us make sure we don’t stay behind in a cocoon. Let’s accept the change as it comes.