The Theory of Life’s 7-year Cycle
Yesterday I turned twenty-eight, and according to the 7-year cycle theory of life, I have now entered the last year of my refinement cycle.
I chose to have a quiet day. I didn’t leave my house; I did nothing out of the ordinary. No zoom party or anything like that. Instead, I just spent most of the day reflecting and chatting with loved ones, which has basically been what I’ve done most of the year anyway. With everything that has been 2020, I’m honestly grateful to just be.
But turning twenty-eight feels strangely monumental even though it’s not regularly regarded as a pivotal age by western society. It is monumental because I feel more aware of who I am; I have more insight into the human being I want to be and the lifestyle I want to live. I’m more convicted about my purpose and what makes me happy in life. I know what sort of relationships I want to maintain and what constitutes a healthy relationship for me. And up to this point, I credited all of these realizations on being indoors and quarantining. What else did we have to do other than reflect and think, right?
Although the environment did make it conducive for a tremendous amount of self-reflection this year, I am also realizing the cycle or phase you are in when life events occur will yield different results for each of us. I can honestly say that I would not have obtained the same conclusions and results if this pandemic and quarantine happened when I was 20. I’m sure the conclusions would have been wonderful, but they would have left me feeling very differently.
Right now, I feel like I’m unlearning. I feel like I am being processed and the finishing touches are being completed. So when I saw that Cycle 4 was refinement it resonated with me.
Human beings are complex works of art. Right now, I feel like I am in the final stages of removing impurities from the raw materials that will later be used to create the masterpiece that is me. That’s the unlearning.
All of this was felt before I heard of this theory of 7-year cycles, but after I read up on the subject, it all kind of makes sense now. Maybe instead of tracking life in decades, we should be using 7-year increments. I think understanding these cycles in their most basic form could help us be more strategic in our development as human creations. It could help us better optimize each cycle that we pass through.
Imagine if we didn’t unlearn the things that are not for us during our refinement cycles? How would that affect the creative process phase?
Below are the cycles, where do you feel you fit in? Where does your age say you should fit in? If you’re in the refinement stage like I am, do you feel like you’ve been going through a tremendous amount of unlearning? Do you feel like you’re being refined?
Cycle 1: Beginning of Life
Cycle 2: Continuation of Early Phase Development
Cycle 3: Phase of Emotional and Physiological Changes of Life
Cycle 4: Refinement
Cycle 5: The Creative Process Phase
Cycle 6: New Restlessness
Cycle 7: Detachment and Awareness of Death
Cycle 8: Age of Awakening
Cycle 9: Acceptance of Inner Peace and Tranquility
Cycle 10: Connection to Innermost Self
Cycle 11: Developed
Source: How Your Mind, Body, and Spirit Evolve Every Seven Years
Of course, I’ve only been through four of the cycles so I can’t quite corroborate this theory to be factual, but it feels right. Now I wouldn’t advise becoming completely beholden to these timeframes but I do think it’s an interesting alternative view of the progression of life. So far, I very much resonate with it.
With that said, I’m in favor of every single reader sharing this blog post with every grandma and grandpa figure in your life, do they resonate with these cycles?
