I am currently on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Trinidad to Miami, flying above the clouds, and, as usual, musing. While enjoying an amazing few days in Trinidad, we went to the movies to see 'Cars 3' with the sole intention of mining for metaphor. However, while everyone else was busy with that objective, I found myself thinking about what I thought was the central theme. . . moving from playing to coaching. As we all know, physical creation is set up septenarily, meaning, the game board and the game of life itself are laid out and played out in segments of seven. An average person's life can be observed to follow the septenary format. The first seven is about programming, that is, laying the groundwork for what is to be addressed in a particular incarnation. The second seven year period, 7-14, is about reinforcing the information revealed in the first seven, 0-7. For example, during the first seven years, Grandma was sick and constantly bedridden, but I didn't start being affected by it, judging it, or recognizing the impact it had on the family until I was between 7 and 14. We spend the next seven years, 14-21, learning and being right about life, as we come to know it, as a result of practicing the beliefs that accompany our individual experiences. When you were that age, what was the conversation about money or behavior, or about life itself? Some cultures instinctively follow the cycles of seven. When I first started going to Egypt, my partner, Farid Fayed's children were between 14 and 21. I was fascinated by how his wife took his daughter into the kitchen and taught her how to cook and serve meals for the family, preparing her for a life that mimicked her mother's. At the same time, Farid would bring his two sons on the road and teach them how to be the same quality of guide that he is, and sure enough, they both are now excellent Egyptologists. The 4 succeeding periods, 21-28; 28-35; 35-42; 42-49, are about choosing and mastering a self-expression that will lead to a self-fulfilling life. A talent, a business, a profession, a particular skill or a role (mother-homemaker,for example) will be the object of mastery. At 49, the original idea was to teach what you had mastered to a person or group of people whose objective was the same as yours had been, which takes me back to 'Cars 3.' The hero of the movie was Lightning McQueen, a very successful race car. When Lightning reached our equivalent of 49 years old, he, at first, fearing that it would mean being put out to pasture, was not ready to leave the track to the upcoming generation. However, modern technology and young blood made it impossible for him to continue winning on the field. After journeying back to his beginnings and taking the time to review his life, he realized that he had gotten to the pinnacle of his craft as a result of superb mentoring and expert training. The light bulb then turned on in his own heart, and deciding to move from the field to the sidelines, wielding a whistle while passing on all he had learned, he moved gracefully to the next stage and once again became a winner.
