Lifespan Human Development Essay

Lifespan, simply defined, is the utmost period of time that a living being can survive. Lifespan can also be applied to a material or object. For a human, the period between his birth and death is a process that is identified as the lifespan development. According to Rebecca Heron (2010), lifespan development encompasses all of the developments or changes that occur from birth throughout life. Others termed lifespan development as a series of events that took place in a person’s life that made him more knowledgeable or wise. Others call it journey. Everyone has their own stories to tell. No matter how sad or colorful one’s story is, it is still something that we can call journey. Let me start mine by letting you know something about me. I am a Latin-American (Cuban) male. I was raised in Newark, NJ and I am in my late thirties now. When I got married last 2004, I moved down to south Jersey. People say that I am a good listener and that I give a good piece of advise. Like every other teenagers, I can say that I gained experiences from my teenage years. Thanks for my best friend Denniz; she was always there especially during my rough times in relationships. She was my shoulder to cry on when I needed one. D. Boyd and H. Bee (2009) tell that there is a Learning Theory that can be applied in a person’s life. According to this theory, one’s development results from an accumulation of experiences. I agree to this concept because I can say that people goes through a lot of experiences in life. Love is a great experience. I can still remember being in love and being out of love but still moved on. With a friend like Denniz, who says life can be so tough? We used to hang out most o the time as I can remember but then she has to move to California during our late teens. We continue to talk over the phone, share each others’ stories until fate has to take her away. A terrible car accident took the life out of my friend and until now, there is never a day that I do not think of her. I know that whatever I am right now, she is a part of it. Living on the darkest point of my life, somehow, I manage to move on. In fact, I acknowledge the need for higher education that is why I pursue studying. I can say that despite the hardships I had, I also gained success. I manage to buy a home, getting married, being asked to speak at my GED graduation on TV, and simply being there to help my parents when they needed me most. I also value simple things like my dog licking my face, the warmth smile of wife, and sometimes, being very child like. I got hurt a lot of times. First, when my best friend died. Then, when I found out that my aunt died in a cold hospital room instead of spending her time with her family. I also got hurt when I was laid-off from my job of 14 years which made me feel that I failed my wife. Because of this, I make sure that I do not disappoint someone, especially my loved ones. I developed the hatred for failure. However, I believe that life is a form of trial and error. Whenever my actions did not produce the outcome that I wanted, I re-think and plan again. Until I am very sure that I will be successful. Intelligence and sensitivity are imparted to me by my parents. There are times that I am emotional rather than logical. But with a bundle of experiences that I have in my life, I learned to balance both of them when I wanted to be successful in the things I do or the decisions I made. I can say that I am in the middle of my journey now. I believe that there are more experiences for me to face and I am ready for it. I had become a better person because of the experiences in my life because it taught me how to be tough and move forward. Twenty or thirty years from now, I want to see myself obtaining a degree in nursing. It feels good that your parents and wife are proud of you. They had been there when I started this task and I want them to be there when I am successful. Of course, I also want to have children of my own where I can be a proud parent someday. I want to teach them what my parents taught me and am able to know that I and my wife have influenced them in a fine way. Now, I can say that my goal as of the moment is to change the relationship between me and my two older brothers. We did not develop expressing our feelings towards each other on our younger years even though we spend a lot of time together. As I age, I feel the need to open up more with them because our relationship as siblings becomes deeper. I’d also like to see my friend Denniz someday. I like to tell her what I went through and how she had become part of it. I’d like to tell her that she is never forgotten and that she is the best friend I ever had. I’d also like to see my aunt. I wanted to say sorry for not being there when she needed us. I’d tell her that we cared for her and ask for her forgiveness. Trials come at times when you do not expect it but with a strong bond with family and friends, it is easy to overcome. With all the influences I have in this journey of mine, I owe most of it to my family. From the hobby of watching movies, to being charismatic and even being open-minded about things, I got it from my family and some from my friends. They are most important to me. That is why disappointing them is the least that I want to do. I’d rather use my ability to make them laugh and see smiles on their faces rather than inflict pain on their hearts. References Bee, Helen and Boyd, Denise. (2009). Lifespan Development. Prentice Hall. Heron, Rebecca (2010). Definition of Lifespan Development, retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. ehow. com/facts_6066997_definition-lifespan-development. html