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Erikson's first stage of development is trust vs. mistrust, this stage is important because the child is learning to trust the only person able to take care of them, their parent or other guardian that is choosing to take care of the child. "If trust predominates, as it should, children will develop hope: the belief they can fulfill their needs and obtain their desires. If mistrust predominates, children will view the world as unfriendly and unpredictable and will have trouble forming quality relationships." (PG150) My mom told me I wasn't specifically a fussy baby or a calm one, I was about right at the middle. Most of the time if I was fussy it was because I needed something and once I got what I needed I would usually stop fussing. I think this shows that I when I cried I had the hope that someone would come take care of me because I would stop once my needs were fulfilled.

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My mom throughout a large part of my life had something she called a, "baby book" that she and my other family members wrote in from time to time with updates about my life, before I was old enough to record anything and a specific example I remember her writing down in that book that relates to autonomy versus shame and doubt. It was when she wrote down when I was almost two years old, from looking at the date written on the entry, I had started getting into things I had been told not to and my mom said that she had started grabbing my hands and gently smacked them. My parents did use corporal punishment but I can't say I remember being affected by that specific punishment so I would say that I began to trust my parents judgement and stop defying or, "shouting "No!" just for the sake of resisting authority." (PG 156)

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I had to think about a time where I was trying something new, trying to actively practice, "balancing the urge to pursue goals with reservations about doing so." (PG 210)  I was in the third grade and my class was at recess, the playground was layered with cut up black tire pieces. I was genuinely curious as to whether it would write on the cement wall of the school or not and thinking back on it now, yes, I could have used some more common sense seeing all of the writing in marker that we had on our wood playground and in a couple places on the cement wall as well that my writing would be viewed as graffiti as well not just a kid trying something new without thinking very well before hand.
It just so happened that that day was the classroom Christmas party and my dad had shown up to help by surprise because he hadn't been working that day and I knew after seeing his and the teacher that had been on recess duty's reaction that I began to feel guilty for what I had done. I was not one of the children that got into trouble all the time so the worst that I got while at the school was an earful from the teacher and my dad. I was actively learning what kind of activities to participate in in order to, "pursue goals without being unduly inhibited by guilt or fear of punishment." Also with guilt when a child gets caught, "something that others think is bad, that might keep you from doing it again." (PG 210) I hate to keep saying that I lean toward trust each stage but I was always taught to listen to the adult but I really would still say listen to the adult if someone had written on the wall just as I had because if I had asked an adult before I acted I could have gotten a yes or no that it worked or been given something more appropriate to try to write on that wouldn't have gotten me in trouble.

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Reading about this stage in the book makes this stage sound very simply put, to change yourself and how you act if you do not fit in with others. "If children are unable to obtain the praise of others or lack motivation...thus may develop a sense of inferiority." (PG 275) I remember being in middle school, sixth grade specifically and I did not get socialized much as a kid except for in school because my parents lived out in the middle of nowhere and were not big on letting be go to others houses at all. My generation is that of technology and being on phones quite a bit so my classmates were very influenced by social media and were obsessed over who had phones and who didn't. I didn't get the flow of what was popular because of my lack of access to technology and my behavior which was that of more of a child still while my peers were starting to see how other middle aged people and teens our ages were acting on the internet and I had many people that found my behavior annoying and told me and I slowly realized why I was considered "different" and as a result began to change about things or brought up or more like what I didn't bring up as I knew it wouldn't be considered cool.

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"Adolescence provides a time for young people to search for commitments to which they can be faithful." (PG 336) Commitments such as these involve friendships, romantic relationships or belonging to a family. I remember when I was sixteen just right at the age where everyone starts asking what you are going to do after high school and if that's college, what major? Last, they always ask if you have a significant other and in my case I have been struggling to find where I truly belonged at for a long time, where I lived at was not somewhere I could completely relax or be completely truthful at and until I got involved with my boyfriend I had no clue where I belonged at. When I began dating my boyfriend at 16 I was finally allowed to have a small taste of freedom, and I learned what being accepted for who I was felt like for the first time. I had someone who was loyal, and someone who introduced me to other people that became my close friends too and we created a family together. The same group of friends that will always be there no matter what happens or what I think.

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In this stage a, "young person seeks to make commitments to others or may suffer from isolation and self absorption." (PG 11) I luckily met the person that I am still with when I was in high school that has developed into a mature, adult relationship as we also matured. Men are not able to reach full intimacy until he has reached a stable identity and women reach this through marriage and having children. I definitely feel glad to have my boyfriend by my side because it always gives me someone to do activities with and at the end of the day instead of coming home to an empty house I come home to my boyfriend and a house full of love.

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This stage is middle adulthood which I have not reached yet. "Mature adult is concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation or else feels personal impoverishment." (PG 11) I think that I will not feel extremely pressed to guide the next generation as much as the book says because I think that the generation "guiding" my generation comes across as too forceful and knowing because their generation has caused a lot of clean up for the newer generations. Times and views change quickly and the people growing up in those eras are the ones that need to decide what to happen, and older generation can't guide when they didn't grow up in that changing culture.

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I also have not made it to this stage yet, "Elderly person achieves acceptance of own life, allowing acceptance of death, or else despairs over inability to relive life." I know that I will not despair over reliving life because it was too much work to figure out how I want to live it now, I couldn't do it again.