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In many a sense, life is like a cake, a big round one where you get to cut out equal triangles. Well, the average life expectancy is growing with all the technological advances, so you may as well cut out 4 or even 5 triangles. Now, each of these triangle pieces that you are so eager to partake of, are about 20 years of your life, say a generational span.

The way life is traditionally structured, the first 20 years or that first slice of the cake goes into learning and growing up. This is where you learn about your surroundings, make friends and get an education in a formal or informal sense. You grow up. 

The second slice represents the next 20 years where you land a job, try to hold onto it, start a family and spend time trying to master the craft of providing stability to yourself and yours. 

The third slice is the next 20 years where you actually get to a point where you are trying to make sense of your life. What the hell have you been doing all along and how did you end up here? 

Mind you, those thoughts apply to either extreme or somewhere along the spectrum where you will find yourself.

Is this the life you dreamed of? Did you ever ponder that this is what you would do in life? How do you get your kids to learn from your experiences? 

Meanwhile, you also have to ensure you provide for your kids to become independent. A lot of people have their actual realization in this third piece of cake. They try to reason with their current life and also, make the bold attempt to pursue a passion or a hobby so they do not miss out. 

The fourth piece is the next 20 years where you rediscover your freedom, with the kids becoming independent and savoring their own second or third piece of cake. This is a period of perhaps retirement, of newly found joy and time on your hands spent reflecting on how you consumed the last three pieces of your cake. This is the time to continue exuberantly with your hobbies, passions and rekindle relationships and spirit of independence. 

The final piece of cake is the last leg of the journey. This is the time to find joy in your kids and their kids’ pieces of cake, share your experiences and at times, let them discover themselves by making their own mistakes. This is the time to continue pursuit of your passions and hobbies and find a use for you in a new generation, a new time; its also time to lay content and rest in peace while reminiscing your cake and how you savored it. 

Every one of us gets to cut our own pieces of cake, some five, some four or even three. Each of us consumes our cake at our own pace and in some cases end up doing more in one 20-year span than others. You may learn more or experience life at a different pace or even introduce a non-traditional short cut during a certain period of your life. However, we all have our very own cakes and get to eat it too. Enjoy yours!