You Can’t Trust People Over 30????
I remember when I was growing up you would hear the expression “you can’t trust people over 30”. I did not
have a clue why they said that but I knew what they meant. I found out later once I began studying Numerology and the cycles of numbers that age 30 is when we cross over out of childhood. Our childhood officially ends at 30 although looking at some of our older adult behavior, you wonder if some adults ever left it. This period at the end of the 20’s can be extremely tumultuous as the passage is taken. Once we arrive in our 30’s we are to be more interested in careers, homes, families and less in tattoos, late nights and morning hangovers. We are to become more serious about ourselves. We even talk of wrinkles!
What we don’t understand is that the 30’s are not your peak of togetherness. Nor are your 40’s. Throughout our 30’s and 40’s we are continuing to develop ourselves, changing careers, laying platforms for future success and burning the candle at both ends. For those who are focused on financial success, these appear to be the most important years. Workaholics, entrepreneurs, living on a few hours of sleep, artificial diets and forcing our physical bodies to conform to our latest fad are all qualities of these “hard charging” years. Even yoga has become a “sport”.
Finally, after 20 years since we left that childhood, we arrive on the doorstep of the ripe old age of 50. We begin to get insulting birthday cards, body parts remind us of how hard we charged in our 30’s and 40’s and we tend to look at the glass as being half empty. What we do not realize is that we have come to the crucial years of finally “freeing ourselves”. This is where we start to release ourselves from the should’s. What we should have done, should have said, should not have eaten and, of course, what we should not have spent. From age 49 to age 50 is an enormous transition year. This is considered the “7th Soul Cycle Year”. 7 x 7 is 49. We have completed seven of these seven year soul cycles (we cycle every 7th birthday beginning at age 7). This is our age of change and the beginning of making changes in our lives that are more in line with who we really our, what we really want to do and how we want to live our lives. It is extremely important that we recognize we are really not grown up until we are in our 50’s and have integrated ourselves.
Once we have crossed over from the 10 years of our 50’s into our 60’s, we can really accomplish more, know
ourselves better, use our time more wisely and be more effective. Unfortunately, what we do in our culture is prepare for retirement. This is really foolish. You are now at your optimum years and planning on retirement. That is similar to the farmer who has prepared the soil, planted the seeds, watered, weeded and waited and then leaves the harvest to go on vacation. What is that? That is nuts! That is how one should consider the word retirement. If you are fortunate to have a retirement fund, then use that income to subsidize what you truly love to do and have always wanted to do.
The key to living into our later successful years is taking care of the physical body so that it can take care of you and allow you to stay here to accomplish your own design. If we burned ourselves out in the 30’s ad 40’s, what do you need to do to support and restore the physical body. There is no reason we cannot thrive successfully well into our 80’s and 90’s. Our 50’s are always our freedom years when we can free ourselves from our self-imposed prisons created by our thoughts and actions.
For those who are our leaders, the expression should be “you can’t trust people under 50”. They have not integrated themselves enough to be effective leaders. This goes for junior senators and congress persons, municipal and state leaders and corporate leaders. Balanced thinking is still under development. It takes time.
Most of our junior corporate and government leaders are “out-driving their headlights”. This also goes for religious leaders. Today I just read about the incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He is Russell Moore and is 41 years old. Wet behind the ears in integrating life’s experiences. This cheerful soul is of a new generation of evangelicals who admits that their numbers are shrinking in America and that the Bible Belt is in decline. He feels this is bad for America but great for the church. Now, they can no longer be the “moral majority” but the “prophetic minority”. He wants evangelicals to battle in the public square on three core issues “life, marriage and religious liberty”. Spoken like a true “under-age” leader.
This same thinking of under 50 years of age can be applied to Obama, who took office in his 40’s, JFK, who took office in his 40’s, silicon valley leaders under 50 (Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Yahoo’s Meyer and many, many others). Although they have several good ideas and can create remarkable products, they themselves do not know how to integrate their thinking until they have gone through the passage into the 50’s.
Be kinder to yourself as you move into your 50’s and beyond. Whatever you do, don’t develop a mindset of retirement and fixed incomes. It is fine to be subsidized (although that idea is leaving) as long as it is used to continue to support your future productive years. The keys to your life success are in “thinking right, moving right and eating right”. Onward and upward!
RETIREMENT = 55 = 10 = 1 = a new beginning!