It’s Not Too Late!

The last developmental stage of life (described by developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson) is “integrity versus despair.” According to this view, one may either feel generally good about the life they lived or look back with deep regret and remorse for a variety of reasons. Of course, like most things, in practice this is not so clear cut. For example, people may experience varying degrees of both sentiments. Also, a person may delude themselves into feeling they have been a good person when the opposite is true. Just as a deeply honorable person may be wracked with guilt over perceived errors they made, blowing small missteps out of proportion. Additionally, these two inner perceptions of one’s self, integrity and despair, is something that is felt periodically throughout life not only toward the end. In any case, if you feel despair about the course of your life, it’s not too late! You will need to reckon with the grief and accompanying losses of the past. But you can still do things to essentially make amends. Within the sphere of what you are capable of doing, you can pursue actions with a sense of purpose to help others and make the world a better place. It may be most satisfying of all to do things directly related to the mistakes you believe you have made. For example, there are people who used to belong to gangs and did things that they are ashamed of. But periodically, you will hear about a person with such a past who has dedicated their life from hereon to helping young people find better options.