Whether you’re in your early 20’s, mid 40’s, or late 60’s, time and age are inevitable. Many of us try to escape it but our minds and bodies remind us that we’re not as young as we used to be. We worry about age, what age can do to us, and we think about how much more we’d like to achieve. We set deadlines as if to call the shots, and yet there are a few things we cannot escape. Here’s a quick guide to what each of us can expect in the next 20, 40, or 60 years; that all depends on how young you believe yourself to be, of course.
In your 20s: Get organized and stay healthy.
Your main challenge in your 20s is to get to know yourself and make room for intimacy. You come face to face with the “real” world for the first time and your convictions are life’s first target. Take this opportunity to get organized in all aspects of your life. Make sure that everything is aligned. Most of all use your 20s to love your body and stay healthy. If you want to find true love, always start from within.
In your 40s: Accept your roles and listen to your body.
Our 40s find us caught in between several responsibilities. Better known as the sandwich generation, we’re stuffed in between our children and our parents, who constantly demand our attention. Mid adulthood is a good stage to thrive in – you know who you are, people value your expertise, and you can pick out the one thing you’ve always wanted to pass on to the next generation. Consequently, however, mid adulthood brings with it several changes in the body. Gradually things are starting to slow down and both men and women experience a drop in hormone production better known as menopause. Learn to listen to your body and use this as your ally to manage your own burnout.
In your 60s: Embrace the wise years.
Late adulthood makes us think about the life we’ve lived, what else we can do, and how much time we realistically have left. While we make sense of what has been and look to the future with determination, we can’t help but think about our own expiration. The challenge that awaits us in late adulthood is making sense of everything and making peace with all the decisions we have made in our past. Embrace these years and use them to write your own legacy.
