written by David Russell, Ph.D., D.Sc |  

Traditional health and medical systems view the elderly’s physical abilities, general health, and role in society quite differently. To understand this viewpoint, it helps to consider the three major periods of development and maturation that occur throughout the life of a human being:

• The first stage of development extends from birth to puberty

• The second stage spans puberty to about age 50

• The final stage begins at 50 and covers the remainder of life

Each stage unfolds its inherent gifts and challenges to further our development and make us more creative and fulfilled persons. In addition, each stage offers a sacred worthiness that brings growth and meaning to our lives and the lives of those around us. We need to recognize that each period of our life contributes something essential and inspiring to our personal evolution and thereby assists us in reaching our full potential.

During each life stage, our physical functions and our consciousness develop inversely. As consciousness expands through the experiences encountered in daily living, the physical body’s vitality diminishes. Observe a one-year-old child: his intellectual abilities are relatively undeveloped due to the fact that his experience is very limited, but the bodily functions at this stage are extremely strong and supple. When injured, the body heals quickly and physical growth proceeds at a rapid pace. In comparison, an elderly person has the expanded consciousness resulting from years of experience, but his bodily functions are less vital and the body is less supple. The wisdom of consciousness produced during the life process is observably much greater than that of the one-year-old, where consciousness is more dedicated to the body’s growth and its sensory processes. Notice how the physical body “feeds” the consciousness from its own vitality; and as the consciousness expands through experience, the body’s vitality lessens. We experience this when we become tired from periods of concentrated thinking and using our mental faculities. 

After the age of 50, our biological energies change from a higher to a lower level of metabolism. Energies usually directed to outer activities—such as career building, study, forming a home and family, and building tissues to support such activities—turn inward to complete our maturation . During this last stage of development, all aspects of our person become more visible. Our attitudes, behavior, and health mirror everything that has happened in our life. If we fostered love and understanding as best we could, we will become even more loving and understanding with age. If we allowed ourselves to become bitter or fearful in the building phase of our lives, we will become the images of bitterness or fearfulness in our final maturing process. We must remember that the world does not create us, we create the world. We become what we create in our heart, the center of our personh...

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