Reflections on Turning 54 and Completing the 3rd Cycle of 18.

Today, I turn 54 years old. It is the completion of my third cycle of 18 years. There is much we can learn by examining our lives in terms of the cycles of time. The 18 year cycle reflects major changes in the experience of being in a body and how we show up in the world.

Take a brief walk with me through the 3 cycles of 18 I have had so far. As you read on, reflect back on your own life and see what realizations come.

First Cycle: 0–17
By the time I was 18, I had grown physically into a young man. I had had a childhood replete with joys and challenges. I had primary relationships with parents and siblings, family members and friends.

I had been to kindergarden, elementary school, middle school and high school. I had learned many things and was now preparing to go to college.

Sports were everything to me as a kid. EVERYTHING. I played sports, watched every sport on TV and dreamed of being a professional baseball player.

Emotionally, I understood anxiety, anger and sadness along with happiness, excitement, joy and love.

By 16, I was using cannabis almost daily, putting it to work for me. I had experienced psychedelics and realized there was something vast going on that I was interested in…