One thing all human beings have in common no matter who we are or where we came from is that we all began as babies and we will all get older until we die. Tragically, some of us die young, but many of us get to live pretty long lives and make it to old age. If you are lucky enough to have a life as long as the average human life expectancy, you will go through a lot of different stages in life.
Here are the 6 major ones.
Infancy
We all start as newborn babies with absolutely zero knowledge of the world around us. In most cases it is up to our parents or some other adult caregivers to teach us things. But in infancy, we are unable to speak so we just cry. We are unable to walk or even crawl yet, so we rely on people to pick us up and carry us around. When you look at a baby now, it’s pretty crazy to imagine that you were once that tiny and helpless. But you were.
Toddlerhood
Being a toddler is the next step after being a baby. Toddlers can crawl, walk, talk, and are beginning to develop their own thoughts and feelings. They will express their dislike for certain foods and likely have a favorite toy or television show. Pretty amazing how much a small human can learn in just a few years, huh?
Childhood
Childhood is basically everything in between being a toddler and being a teenager. You’ll lose teeth, you’ll skin knees, you’ll go to school. You might even have a little crush on someone. You will definitely have a lot of energy and opinions. Enjoy this time as much as you can because once this stage is over you’ll definitely miss it.
Adolescence
After childhood, you’ll come into adolescence which is the transitional stage between being a child and an adult. These are your teenage years when hormones and emotions can tend to run high. It’s important to remember though that your brain is still not fully developed yet during this stage, so though you may think you know everything, you still have a lot to learn.
Adulthood
You did it! You reached adulthood. For most of us, as kids, that’s the goal, right? But once you get here you realize it isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. There’s a lot of stress. And bills. Oh and you’re stuck here for ohhhh the next 50 years or so.
Golden Years
As an elderly member of society, you are still technically an adult. But this is the final stage of life where you start realizing that you have far fewer years left on this earth than the ones already behind you. At this stage, or even a little before it, it’s smart to start planning for retirement. If you are unable to fully take care of yourself, you may have to move into an assisted living community. Despite this, some actually say these years are the best of their lives. So whatever you do, don’t waste them. But you won’t. You’re too old and wise at this point to make a mistake like that.
Whatever stage you are at in life, take it all in and make as many memories as you can. Odds are once you reach the next stage you’ll want to go back, but as we all know, that isn’t an option.