According to Erik Erikson (1966), when we reach the age range
between 40 to 65, we will struggle to generate ourselves to be as productive as
possible, in a caring
way. If we fail to do so, we will become stagnant. Spending our whole day just
basically doing nothing. He called this stage ‘generativity vs. stagnant’. The
two main avenues for our generativity at this stage will be caregiving and
employment.
Erik Erikson
myinterestingfacts.com
Although
caregiving might involve meeting another
person’s physical needs (feeding, cleaning, transportation, etc.), actually
caregiving revolves a lot about fulfilling one’s psychological needs (feeling
loved, appreciated, valued, etc.). And this happens regardless of what kind of
connection that we have with our caregivers, be it our foster parents,
stepparents or others.
Have you ever heard of sandwich
generation? It is a term used to refer to the generation of middle-aged people
who are supposedly squeezed by the needs of the younger and older members of
their families.
By our logic, we might think that this generation may feel pressured by these obligations. I mean juggling
between 2 priorities is hard. No doubt that this statement does contain some
truth. But contrary to our logic, most adults of this generation, although feeling
pressured, are actually not burdened by them, either because they enjoy
fulfilling them or because they choose to take on only some of them or none of
them.
As for employment, although younger generations may perceive ‘going
to work’ as something that is not fun or boring, adults have
many psychosocial needs that employment can, and will, actually fulfill through working.
Apart from being able to support the education and health of their families, employment
also enables adults to express their
creative energy, develop their personal skills, and ultimately contribute to
the community by providing goods or services.
So, although the extrinsic
rewards may make jobs appeal, it is actually the intrinsic rewards of work itself that make someone to
continue working, completely contrary to our beliefs that how much do we make
from a job is the key factor of our satisfaction of our jobs.
Why am I telling you all of these?
Well, these are some of the things that I have learned in my
course, and I am revising them to prepare for my finals in the upcoming week.
Feel free to Google and search more about Erikson and his psychosocial stages,
if you are interested.
And, wish me luck too. I need it.
But, apart from that, revising these also make me realize
something.
As a nineteen-years-old girl, I am having thoughts that when I
am forty, I will be successful by retiring early and have lots of wealth. And I
can rest for as long as I want and I can do whatever I want, far from receiving
orders from anyone. I thought that being free and resting long will make me
happy when I turn forty.
So I am quite shocked to learn that once you’re forty, your
happiness will actually decrease if you are not given the opportunity to do
something. Even if you have reached forty years old, you will inevitably
continue to seek things to do, whether by taking care of your family members,
or still going to work until you are physically unable to do so.
Or even both. Who knows?
So, to young people out there, if you are picking a job, pick
a job that you love, after considering those extrinsic rewards that may appeal
to you. Because, although those rewards are crucial, your happiness ultimately
depends on you enjoying what you do.
So pick what you love. Or at least, pick what you don’t hate.
Because what’s the point of living your life doing something that you hate?
This is just a quick share of what I have learned and my
insights of it.
What is the most useful thing you can do after you learn
something, other than reflecting on it, right?
This is what
actually motivates me to keep learning. Although I might not know my job after
my graduated, if I use whatever knowledge that I have now, to reflect and apply
it to improve myself, I am doing a great work already.
Finally, whoever you are and
whatever condition that you are in,
I pray that you will be able, and continue,
to love what you do and to do what you love.
So, that is what I learned from Erikson.
Thank you, Erikson.
Comments
Post a Comment