In stage FOUR (other people have needs too), we have our first ability to feel guilt, shame and empathy and ultimately a struggle to prioritize our own needs among the needs of others. This can lead to the common issues of:
Guilt
Shame
Feelings of inadequacy
Stress
Comparing yourself to others
etc.
In stage SEVEN, there is a lot of work to be done looking at yourself closely and accepting yourself closely including forgiving yourself and others, etc. Stage seven is where we reject all ideologies and as such it is a time filled with potentially very bad decisions and their consequences. It is also a time filled with harsh realizations of our past mistakes. This stage can tend to see a lot of:
Guilt
Shame
Anger
Stress
Uncertain Future
What To Do With Your Life (Finding Your Purpose)
School/Career Frustration
Self-Doubt
Comparing Yourself To Others
Focusing On Failure
Focusing on the Past
Focusing on the Bad Things
Self-Judgement
Seeing Your Life/Options As Limited
Forgiving
Feeling Detached From Life
Loneliness
Divorce
Self-Sabotage, and
Addiction
Other stages tend to avoid a lot of the negative issues and being in some of the more pleasant challenges. For example, stages eight through eleven can tend to include challenges such as:
Figuring Out How To Follow A Dream
Learning A New Skill, and
Making The Right Investments (time, effort, money)
But Sometimes NO…
There are a number of challenges that can appear anytime. They tend to pull you back around the cycle into earlier stages. That is, they tend to land you in, for example, stage three (I am my needs) but they are not CAUSED by stage three. For example, injury or disease, divorce and many others can find you in any stage but will cause you to spend much more time in earlier stages.
The good news is that, with practice, you can recognize that these issues are causing you to spend more time in earlier stages and you can consciously pull yourself into later stages, wherein you can more easily overcome them.
So yes and no… understanding where you are on the cycle and where you are going, you may be able to see some of these coming, but even if you do not see them coming, you can OVERCOME them.
