The sense of life time in human development.

The subjective sense oflife time is the medium within which issues of identity and growth take place. Youth, middle age, early old age, and old age are each presented as developmental stages with dominant experiences oflife time. Directivity, or purposeful movement toward a goal, is then related to the experience of future and occurs in the gap between present and future. The sense of "now" in old age is viewed as a stage in the life cycle with the potential for unique personal creativity and growth, being free from bondages found at other points in the life cycle.