The writer would like to share with his readers the concept of temporary adherence to certain values in life. Many people recognize that individuals temporarily subscribe to certain values throughout their life cycle. The writer would like to delve on a story that was narrated to him by his father a few years ago. When his father was in secondary school, he used to have a childhood friend whose name was John. According to his father, many people nicknamed John as John the Baptist because of his strong commitment to the world of God. According to the story, John came from a family that was deeply rooted in Christianity. Both his parents had a church in the neighborhood where children used to attend Sunday school sessions. John was the third born in a family of four children. His parents were so strict to the extent that all his siblings epitomized good examples and were often cited as role models. In school, John was by all standards the holiest person the writer’s father ever came across and because of that, so many people used to like him and many students would consult with him on spiritual matters.
Since John was perceived to be morally upright, many students used to engage him on an array of issues ranging from academic performance to issues to do with cultivating good relationships with friends of the opposite sex. The writer observes that it was important to note that besides being a devoted Christian, John was also one of the brightest students in his class. Eventually, John studied theology at the school of theology and became a priest. Immediately after graduating from the school of theology, John changed and turned himself to a shadow of himself. Many people started complaining about his transgressions ranging from illicit sexual exploits with both married and unmarried women.
According to the writer, there is strong evidence suggesting that there is an imaginary cycle of growth and development that every individual is bound to go through. He continues by noting that additional evidence suggest that every individual must go through the whole cycle in order to be ‘a fully formed’ individual. That, any individual who attains adulthood without going through the complete imaginary growth and development cycle will at some point has to go through the incomplete stages. The writer contends that many psychologists argue that this mechanism is referred to as ‘compensation period’ where an individual has to ‘pay’ for what he did not partake of. He continues to note that this argument has been supported by other scholars who have used the analogy of play toys during childhood. That, every individual is by design at some stage in life expected to play using toys made of all sorts of materials. Psychologists have advanced the argument that any individual who because of one reason or the other bypasses this stage will at some point in life ‘payback’ for this bypassed stage by playing with toys even at adulthood.
The writer concludes by saying that this assertion perhaps best explains John’s behavior. Probably, after his training in theology, it was time to accomplish what he did not go through during his life stages. According to him, it is common knowledge that every individual has a transition phase from childhood to adulthood what is commonly referred to as adolescent stage. This is the period where most people do have their experience with friends of the opposite sex and a lot of discoveries do take place during this stage. The writer authoritatively concludes that John never had that discovery and was ‘paying back’ as most psychologists argued.
Works cited
Chonnley Elias. Full scale growth and development. Lagos: Ibadan University press, 1986.
Ludwig Jessica. Developmental stages. Lagos: Lagos printing Press, 1999.
