Well here we are well into the first month of a new year already. Yikes! I’ll turn 60 this year and I still haven’t figured out whether that’s a good or not so good thing!
Do I like being this old? NO. Although it does have many benefits. Can I do anything about it? YES. Well sort of. Obviously I can’t change how old I am but I can certainly continue to pay attention to my attitude and do my absolute best to look after myself to the best of my ability.
I can choose how I feel about the whole deal of ageing with the wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years or I can whinge and complain at how awful it is to grow old. And boy don’t you hear that often and I confess to having the occasional whinge myself at times. Usually when I find it hard, or impossible, to do the things I did at 20!
I can be grateful for the youthful outlook and demeanor I posess (and friends tell me I don’t look too bad physically either if I may humbly say so) or I can be grumpy at a few minor things that are happening that I have no control over – eg: I have less time left on the planet than I have spent here!
I can be inspired by those who have gone before me and lived long, healthy and prosperous lives or I can be put off by others who are not doing so well, are unhappy and feel life holds no further promise.
Life is all about paying attention and taking appropriate action.
Paying attention to what makes us better people, what makes us more content and happy, what makes us care more about others and our environment and what makes us feel excited about life and getting up each day.
A highly recommended way to achieve this is to be mindful of what you are thinking as much as possible. Your thoughts will determine how you feel and it will follow that you act on your feelings.
Thoughts = Feelings = Actions.
Don’t take my word for it though – try it for a few days and see what happens. You’ll most likely find that some days you are regularly spending time in the company of worry, fear and doubt. This will then almost ensure that you are feeling pretty confused, frustrated and sometimes angry and resentful. Which then means, you will act accordingly. You may yell at your kids, spouse etc. or get cross and impatient at the supermarket checkout person because you had to wait in a queue longer than you believed to be reasonable. You may make rash decisions based on your frustrations rather than making decisions calmly made in accordance with your values and how you would really like things to be.
Yes, there’s a lot said and written on the importance of how we choose look at things and we can’t always, in every situation, remain calm enough to do what we know is right. But with constant vigillance and practice, we can look to find the positives in life more often and live closer to our lifestyle of choice rather than being victims of what goes on around us.
So am I going to enjoy being 60 years of age or not?
Well, that will be entirely up to me won’t it but you can be sure that after all these years of practice, I’ll do a pretty good job of living well and enjoying all that the human experience offers, in all it’s magnificent forms.
May your New year be wisely chosen and peacefully and happily experienced as EVERY DAY GETS BETTER.
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