making sense of the stages of life

In the book "plant a Wlanut tree" the author references four stages of life. I like his idea but add my own little twist. between the two of us I kinda see life in these four stages:

1. exposure
2. accumulate
3. leverage
4. spread

Exposure is the early stage of life when we experiment with various paths. We try a number of different things and begin to see exactly what scratches the itches of our soul. We call this "finding our self."

Accumulate is the time in our life where we add knowledge, skill, and experience to our unique abilities and calling. We study, learn, and perform duties that build competencies.

We leverage our competencies as we accept responsibility for leading others toward mutual accomplishments. In this stage we generally personally benefit by acquiring wealth and respect for our commitment to lead others for the overall success.

The last stage is the time for eldership, not leadership. Here we no longer seek personal gain nor group accomplishment. We simply spread around to others, who may be in any of the earlier stages, wisdom, insight, and encouragement to their paths.

Its probably difficult to argue much with these stages. The question remains, however, what causes these stages to be more or less productive and satisfying for different individuals, at all stages. I believe there are at least two forces at work in individuals' lives.

One is the ego, which is the self. There is nothing wrong with one's ego, it just means we aware of self. Egotistical means that we structure our life around our ego. We make sense of ourself and our world around us based on how it affects us. Being egotistical at each stage stunts or constrains our development, and we do not fully become and display our true self.

Another is institutional imperatives. These are the forces of organizations we belong to along the way that require us to behave a certain way to be accepted. Our institutions are families, employers, schools, and broader culture. Trading off our calling to conform to to others in exchange for acceptance stunts our growth, development, and contribution.

Freedom from egotism and institutional imperatives all along the journey produces the life we were meant to live. These are some thoughts for those looking forward from one looking primarily back. take it or leave it but at least u should ponder it ......