Today I want to share a short, but very important idea with you. Todays topic is my view on aging. Generally, this topic is approached in a rather negative way. Aging means losing your youthfulness which equals becoming ugly, fat, incapable, slow etc.
To a certain extent this might be true. Indeed, our bodies change and we feel we can’t do the things we used to do. But how often do we actually focus on the things we gained throughout the years, rather than focusing on the things we lost or are about to loose?
I am very fortunate to have parents that are aging pretty gracefully. My mum even told me when she turned 50 that she has never been as happy, healthy and energetic. At age 25 she was rather depressed and lacking of energy. Despite her encouraging words, I still dreaded aging. Especially after I turned 25 and the 30 was coming up. Not only did I feel I was losing my beauty and energy, but also was I losing time to “accomplish” something in my life.
The turning point
Then the day came: Last year I turned 30. And it was nothing like I had expected it to be! The day of my 30th birthday I realized how happy I was. I realized that never before had I felt so much freedom from my own mental chatter and from society’s pressure. Suddenly, the mere thought of being 18 again made me shiver!
I definitely don’t want to go back to being immature, insecure and obsessing about my and other peoples thoughts. Besides that, I don’t want to go back to the painful experiences that have made me the strong person I am now. I can gladly say that I have learned my lessons. But now I am ready to receive other lessons.
Nowadays, my thoughts around aging include wisdom, growth and inner freedom. I enjoy being on this path towards liberation. I cherish the many beautiful experiences I have had in life and I can look back with a smile. At the same time, I am excited and curious to see what other surprises and gifts life still has to offer to me. And in the meanwhile, I rest happily and peacefully in my current maturity and freedom 🙂
The importance of changing your perspective
Law of attraction teaches us that everything we pay attention to will grow. So, paying attention to the positive aspects of aging will dramatically change our process and outcome of aging. Unfortunately, society has rather paid attention to the negative aspects. Therefore, I think it’s our duty to change our perspective and share it with others. Not only verbally, but also by being an example and showing that aging indeed is a pretty awesome process!
And here’s some special information for the ladies: Did you know that the menopause is made for women to develop their leadership skills? By age 50 most women are simply too valuable to produce children. Nature rather wants them to take over leadership roles in society, as is seen in killer whales and in some traditional human societies. Unfortunately, most societies do not treat women accordingly, nor do women understand their own value. It is time to change our mindsets and the mindsets of others, so we can fully develop our potentials without any hindrance!
Count your blessings
I will finish off this post with a beautiful passage I found in Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s search for meaning”:
The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his calendar wall, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all of life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reason has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him? “No, thank you,” he will think. “Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, though these are the things which cannot inspire envy.”
— Viktor Frankl