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Christmas Trap
When I was 4, I created a trap for Santa Claus. I put a large amount of glue on the floor in front of the cookies and milk that I left out for him. When my parents woke up to eat the cookies and drink the milk, they found a large hard spot on the carpet and got very upset. They explained that even though this was clever, it ruined the carpet and overall I felt guilt. This is a perfect example of Erikson's stage of initiative versus guilt. I felt guilt and did not try to trap Santa again. -
Sports
When I was 9, I started playing soccer. This was the first time I had played sports and I was a very overweight kid. This made me significantly slower than the other kids on the team. This made me feel inferior to the other kids. This is an example of Erikson's 4th stage, industry versus inferiority. -
Finding Myself
When I was 15, I was very overweight and my friends pressured me into running cross country to lose the weight. Everyone thought that I was going to give up and quit running. Since I knew this, I used that to push me harder. At this time I learned that if I wanted something then I was going to have to work hard for it, and I was willing to do the work. This is part of Erikson's identity versus identy confustion. -
Marriage
At the age of 25, I had finally made the decision to get married. I had been single for most of my military career and had a lot of fun. However, it seemed that I was ready for something more. When I met my wife, we knew from the first date that something was special. We made the decision to become commited to eachother last February. This falls under Erikson's intimacy versus isolation stage.
