The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

The phases of life:
As we pass through the phases of life—youth,
emerging adult, middle age, and old age—we notice certain common
changes in us. In our youth we experience life more intensely. We are
more emotional and vulnerable. Most of us tend to be outwardly
focused, concerned with what people might think of us and with how
we fit in. We are more gregarious but prone to foolish behavior and
self-righteousness.
As we get older, the intensity diminishes, our minds tend to tighten
up around certain conventional ideas and beliefs. We slowly become
less concerned with what people think of us, and thus more inwardly
directed. What we sometimes gain in these later phases is some
distance from life, some self-control, and perhaps the wisdom that
comes from accumulating experiences.
We have the power, however, to drop or mitigate the negative
qualities that often go with certain phases of life, in a way defying the
aging process itself. For instance, when we are young, we can make a
point of lessening the influence of the group on us and not being so
fixated on what others are thinking and doing. We can make ourselves
more inwardly directed, more in harmony with our uniqueness (see
chapter 13 for more on this). We can consciously develop more of that
inner distance that comes naturally with the years, think more deeply
about our experiences, learn the lessons from them, and develop a
premature wisdom.
As we age, we can strive to retain the positive youthful qualities that
often fade with the years. For instance, we can regain some of the
natural curiosity we had as children by dropping some of the smugness
and know-it-all attitude that often come over us as we get older. We

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keep looking at the world through a fresh framework, questioning our
own values and preconceptions, making our minds more fluid and
creative in the process. As part of this, we can learn a new skill or study
a new field to return us to the joy we once had in learning something
new. We can also meditate on some of the more intense experiences in
our youth, putting ourselves back in those moments through our
imagination, connecting more deeply to who we were. We can feel that
youthful intensity return to some degree in our present experiences.