Let say if you were to contemplate your life as if it were a triangle, not every triangle, to be more specific you are looking at an equilateral triangle, where all sides are congruent and equal. Imagine your life as this equilateral triangle; you have gone through a process before you have become who you are today, this process called human growth and development. Human development starts with the early stage from baby to childhood, to adolescent, etc.. As you grow from one stage to another you have become cognitively, emotionally, and physically mature. With such maturity, experience take place, you have been exposed to many challenges, changes, and vulnerability, you have become a masterpiece where your growth and development implementing continuously.

Visualize the triangle as if it were your life, every day you are working hard and smart to reach the top of the triangle. Let start with the most primordial steps, “baby steps”, the bottom of the triangle are the baby steps, visualize those steps as The Maslow Hierarchy of needs theory (analyzes human needs’ psychologically). At the bottom of Maslow Hierarchy of needs triangle, there are physiological needs; within that row you have the most vital needs every human needs to grow such as air, water, shelter, clothes, etc. When those needs are met in your life, now your focus has shifted to something bigger which is “safety”, it includes jobs, health, security, etc… After these changes have occurred, you are moving to something greater which is “love and belongings” within that range you have attachment, relationship, and connection with others. Now you have move forward with Esteem, where status, freedom, your achievements, and goals have been satisfied.

After all of those previous needs are met, now you are about to encounter the biggest change of your life, which is “Self-actualization” or Self-Transcendence, where all of your desires, your needs and wants have been gratified. At this stage you are at the very top of the triangle, even so there are changes that arise. If ever this mutation stop or pause for one second at the top of the triangle, your life will shift, you cannot go higher because you are already at the top of the triangle, that’s when remorse take place, you might fall at any other row below self-actualization, it could be esteem, love and belongings, or even physiological needs. What do you at this point? Are you going to keep falling apart or are you going to regenerate progress? We all have something we would like to accomplish in our lives, a place where we want to be, or something that we want to possess, but the thing is after you have reached that goal, do you feel self-actualization occur?  Do you know when you reach that level, and if so, are you self-satisfied, in other word are you happy with what your life is at this point. Many of us if not all human beings do not and will never achieve self- actualization for these two reasons, 1) most of us don’t appreciate who we were and who we are that the reason we’re trying to become a better version of ourselves or even others; we are on a road where unrelated things have caught up our attention, we have completely forgotten our main purpose for taking this route.  2) When we finally achieve our goals, most of us desire something bigger and better which is part of human nature, and not to say how ungrateful we can become to the dream that we once had dreamed of.

Even though changes must occur at the top of the triangle, do not try to scrawl beyond the triangle level so you can progress continuously while you are on that rank. Live and enjoy who you are to the fullest because when vulnerability take place most of us wish the life that we once had.

References

ImaArtist. 2020. pixabay.com/photos/chances-catch-me-in-between-present-5296693/ Accessed 6th June, 2021.

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Theory