Who would have thought that this day would come about and that it would be so full of joy? I know that this has a lot to do with Universal Medicine and the people I’m involved with on the Joy of Ageing Esoterically team. They are so positive and inspiring and they encourage me by their reflection, by their way of living, to be all that I am, can be, and can keep aspiring to be, as I go into my elder years. |
About a month before my 70th birthday my back ‘went on me’ and suddenly I had a sharp shooting pain in my lower back causing me to experience extreme pain. Now, I had heard of that happening to others many times but it had never happened to me, and I realise that it doesn’t really ‘just happen’. I had been having painful symptoms for a long time but because I didn’t respond by lovingly caring for it, even though I knew I should, my lower back became extremely painful and it is now taking a long time to feel better, in fact it may never completely heal.
Yes, I have caused a lot of damage to my back, mainly because of ignoring the signals – that is, not listening to my body and overriding the niggles and twinges I had received as warnings over many years.
But the point is that, even though I am sometimes in a lot of pain, it doesn’t affect the joy I feel in my body.
I have a feeling of a lightness of being - simply accepting that being me is all I need to be and that I don’t need another to make me feel good about myself.
I never thought I would feel so amazing in my seventies – Wow! In fact, I guess I never thought about it much at all until I was in my late sixties and the seventh decade was looming closer.
What I now have come to realise is that there can still be true purpose in the seventies and that there is no need or excuse to ‘drop your bundle’ or resign yourself to the fact that you are getting old.
I realise that many people think that they can get away with disregarding their bodies through the food they eat, and they might think that nurturing is putting their feet up, sitting back, and watching TV most days because they have worked so hard all their working lives. They might reason that now since they are retired they deserve this time out in their elder years, but isn’t this just pandering and not truly caring for ourselves?
Could it be that this way of choosing to live is also retiring from life? Do we really want that? For indeed what purpose is there in living that way?
Yes, we are getting older and the body may be showing signs of wear and tear. We may even have to surrender to the fact that we cannot get away with what we could in the past or what we could do physically. However, with due care for the body, by increasing our awareness and listening to our body and allowing space in our day to do some gentle exercises on a consistent basis, we will find that we still have a lot to offer to society. When we are taking responsibility for our body by lovingly caring, nurturing and nourishing it, we can be there for others.
The fact is we are all role models to the younger generations and the way we choose to live is the reflection we are offering them. I am experiencing that there is another way that is not about giving up, instead it is to remain active within our communities. We all know a lot of older people who are still working whether it’s part-time, volunteering, or simply connecting and supporting each other.
Let’s not be victims of getting older, but rather be wonderful reflections as we go into our senior years by valuing ourselves first and valuing our livingness through the way we are choosing to live. Surely part of our purpose in our elder years is to show we can be joyful and that life is truly worth living. We can show others how this is a wonderful cycle to be in.
Deidre M., Australia
If you enjoyed this article you may also like to read:
https://www.unimedliving.com/ageing/ageing/ageing-to-be-feared-or-lived.html
or on the topic of Joy:
https://www.unimedliving.com/livingness/living-wisdom/if-happiness-is-a-fundamental-human-goal-why-stop-there.html