Oprah,Erik Erikson,Sigmund Freud, and Generativity

Today, Linda and I watched the Oprah TV show. Whenever I use dumbbells, inflatable ball, or stretching bands, I watch TV. Opera’s program is celebrating her 25 years in Chicago on television. It’s amazing to hear how much this woman has given back to others. From providing educational opportunities, creating schools, assisting people with their careers, to helping women empower themselves is remarkable. What a model she’s provided.

Erik Erikson, a psychoanalyst, developed a theory of personality that differed from Sigmund Freud. If you remember, Freud’s theory is a psycho sexual theory of man.  Erikson on the other hand differed from Freud in that his theory is a psycho social model of man.  To oversimplify this means that he gives more emphasis on the impact of environment than Freud. According to Erikson, man proceeds through a series of 8 stages of development.  Man is presented with a crisis in each stage of his development that he has to deal with and work through. For example, in stage VII men is presented with the psychological task of generativity versus stagnation. Oprah has mastered this psychosocial stage as evidenced by her ability in assisting and guiding the next generation. In other words guiding, taking care of, teaching, and giving to others is the  psychosocial task of this stage. Oprah is a great and successful model.

In my book” It Has Nothing to Do with Age” read about the seven athletes that have also mastered Erikson’s generativity stage. Lew Hollander, PhD, Jack Scholl, and Shay Bintliff, M.D. are perfect examples that demonstrate their concern for others. In fact, Doc Shay’s philosophy of life is similar to the Kevin Spacey film” Pay It Forward.” Read about them and the others in the book to better understand their personality and character as people.

There are a number of things that you can learn from reading my book some of them include the following: 1. a psychological basis for understanding the underlying motivation of the competitors. 2. How and why the older athlete is able to train, compete, and win. There are many things that you can learn from reading my book.

Today is a tapering run for me . Tony and I ran the new trail from Salmon Falls to  Cronin ranch a distance about  8 1/2 miles along the American River. Remember this is tapering for me but not for Tony. He told me that he’ll race for a T-shirt. Since is not going to receive a T-shirt on this Memorial Day weekend run he is not tapering.   By the way he ran fast and said he felt good. He also told me that he’s not too concerned about aging since he avoids looking in the mirror as much as possible. He said he is joking. Sure Tony whatever works, just do it as Nike says.
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