Surprises in Your Long and Winding Road

November 19, 2024

When THE BEATLES -- those sensational pop philosophers and mid-20th century minstrels – wrote about “the long and winding road”, they were writing about you and the winding road of your life.

So many mysteries in an unfolding lifetime

They spoke for everyone who ever said, “I didn’t ask to be born” when they complained to the universe “You left me standing here a long, long time ago.” They spoke for the frustrations of so many, when they wrote, “Many times I've been alone and many times I've cried. Anyway, you'll never know the many ways I've tried.” … Tried what? … Tried to figure it out.

Wildly different approaches to studying human lifespan

The Beatles were not the first, and they will not be the last, to try to figure out what it means to journey the long and winding road of a human lifetime. Many approaches have been tried:

1. The big data approach crunches numbers on bio-psycho-social measurements of behaviours across population masses -- trying to find common patterns.

2. The experiential approach tries to gather group, cohort, or personal experiences over the long haul, highlighting differences in the unfoldment of men and women.

3. The political approach tries to resist the stigma of “ageism” while the infamous “baby boomer” demographic bulge keeps expanding the expected limit of enjoyable lifetime.

4. The ancient deities approach references the defining qualities of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses to focus on how character may alter over time.

5. The archetypes approach provides an interesting set of landmarks suggesting an inner lifetime journey from Innocent to Orphan to Wanderer to Warrior to Martyr to Magician - an end state that empowers you to transform all your memories into painless wonder.

6. The moral imperative approach simply reduces all adventures to the dual purpose of making yourself a better person while working to make the world a better place.

You can’t see round a corner – So there are bound to be surprises!

The thing about being physical and mortal is -- you can't see 'round the next “corner,”  the next major adjustment in your life. Actually, every one of your contexts is continuously evolving: your home, work, city, nation and world.  As those change, and as you age through many stages,  your wisdom and understanding can mature – and things that used to bother you just won't anymore.

Summary:

Whatever the sciences and philosophies are doing to understand human lifespan, what really matters is how well you are learning to appreciate the ages and stages through which you are passing.  You’ll find more about surprising frontiers that keep you motivated your whole life long,  when you check out https://www.personalartofliving.com/course102.