 | It is really very simple – ageing is about simplicity! When we are children we have a wonderful presence, a sense of ourselves, and a quality of being. I have noticed how often, if an adult has remained open to life and moved with the times, they regain that quality in their old age. Older people and the very young do often have a beautiful understanding, an honest and simple relationship. |
Alternatively, in our old age we can go into a magnification of all the childhood emotions that never got resolved in our lifetime, and become inward, self-seeking, angry, indulgent and feel victimised.
I have lived all these things throughout my life and become driven and hard, which made life very complicated. I sought various healing modalities for the answers to my physical and emotional issues. I even became a teacher of the Alexander Technique. This set up the ultimate control that only increased my arrogance and buried the issues, while seeming to set me free of them. But it was not to be so. I was using a tool I thought was a Way of Life that made me invincible. I thought I would be fit till I was 90 with all this knowledge.
My body knew otherwise.
The hardness and protection caught up with me, resulting in hip replacements and extreme exhaustion and other ailments, all by the age of 65. I continued to try out various remedies with no change until ----------
---- Two years later I discovered Universal Medicine and the teachings of Serge Benhayon.
These teachings have transformed my whole approach to myself, my health and my life, my relationships, work, and the whole world. I had met a teacher of a Way of Living who brings Love in its purity, lives what he teaches every moment of his day, and asks questions that turn the whole perception of life upside down. Through being a student of The Way of the Livingness, my life has changed beyond recognition. I have come to know how to be responsible for my own choices, how they affect me and everyone else, and the quality of the energy of that choice. If it is for self, then there is no service or love in it, but if it is for humanity, then it is for US, myself included, and everyone benefits. I have learned to be aware of that arrogant, wayward spirit of mine, and no longer be a slave to it. It’s easy to reconnect to my Soul through the Gentle Breath Meditation®.
From this connection the CHOICES become simple.
There is no need to hang on to old resentments, or anything from the day before – EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY WITH NEW GIFTS.
If we choose to allow life to unfold from our loving choices and see the beautiful picture of ourselves, we grow and shine. Loving myself and valuing my choices has not been something I have chosen until now.
I no longer give all the little unnecessary niggles of daily life any importance.
Knowing we are part of a greater whole, that there is more to me than meets the eye, that I am soul, connected to everyone and everything, then life deepens and widens as I embrace the bigger picture.
I know that my sense of myself, and the deep, deep loving place within, can support me no matter what is thrown at me emotionally, psychologically, or physically. I am still learning this but slowly I am developing that loving foundation within myself by allowing myself to rest when I feel to, eat when I feel to and express my truth when I feel to.
Our bodies never lie. They are our messenger. Embrace and listen to the wisdom offered. I have driven and overridden my body all my life. As a child we have to learn to have patience and wait till our bodies are ready to do those things we may want to do too soon, and in old age we have to learn to let go of many things we used to enjoy because the body is saying no. This is something I am really learning to follow now. Waiting and just being becomes a pleasure, and new skills and interests can come in as we let life unfold before us day by day. And so they do! I now take part in things I never did before.
Children speak their minds and the truth in no uncertain terms, and often the old do too.
Claiming ourselves, even if we have lost the connection with it in our mid years, is a powerful way to not feel marginalised and ignored and invisible, as many old people do. It is a time to live ourselves fully and not go into decline, whatever the body is doing. We are still ALIVE inside and capable of joy.
I nearly went into total decline and lost my vitality, but that was my choice, although I didn’t realise it at the time. It was easier and felt like a more comfortable place to be. Not so, it was debilitating and damaging. Don’t go there – choose your own Livingness.
I have learned to not give my body’s symptoms too much importance by worrying about them, only to listen to what my body is telling me.
Old age is a time for reflection, not nostalgia, or longing for past things. Silence and stillness become places of connection to ourselves, each other and the world. We can be always open to the new.
There is a wonderful feeling in letting go of competition. Children do not naturally compete. I heard a child psychologist once describe an incident in Africa. He was researching the children’s responses in a certain tribe, and he placed a ball under a tree and asked them to race to the ball and pick it up. They all ran together, and not one child picked it up. They waited until they were all there and then they played with it together. When he asked them why they did not compete they said,
“Why would we want to do that, we are all one together. We would not want to beat one of our brothers.”
So in old age we can let go of that competition and gracefully wait or give way for others to join us where we are. And we can observe without judgment, enjoying others for who they are.
It is very simple really. It is finding that deep still place within where I can truly feel that there IS a choice, and that it does not come from the MIND, it is HEART-FELT, a knowing of what I know is the truth.
The surrender to the reality of old age and the wisdom it offers becomes a joyful way of living – and all fears drop away, and then there is no need to be afraid of death, it is just another step.
All this has been made possible for me through the seven years of being a student of The Way of the Livingness. Now in my seventies, although I still feel like a very new student, my life is infinitely richer, deeper, and more harmonious than it ever was in my life before.
Joan C., UK
For further reading you may also like:
Ageing beautifully by making self-loving choices
I have lived all these things throughout my life and become driven and hard, which made life very complicated. I sought various healing modalities for the answers to my physical and emotional issues. I even became a teacher of the Alexander Technique. This set up the ultimate control that only increased my arrogance and buried the issues, while seeming to set me free of them. But it was not to be so. I was using a tool I thought was a Way of Life that made me invincible. I thought I would be fit till I was 90 with all this knowledge.
My body knew otherwise.
The hardness and protection caught up with me, resulting in hip replacements and extreme exhaustion and other ailments, all by the age of 65. I continued to try out various remedies with no change until ----------
---- Two years later I discovered Universal Medicine and the teachings of Serge Benhayon.
These teachings have transformed my whole approach to myself, my health and my life, my relationships, work, and the whole world. I had met a teacher of a Way of Living who brings Love in its purity, lives what he teaches every moment of his day, and asks questions that turn the whole perception of life upside down. Through being a student of The Way of the Livingness, my life has changed beyond recognition. I have come to know how to be responsible for my own choices, how they affect me and everyone else, and the quality of the energy of that choice. If it is for self, then there is no service or love in it, but if it is for humanity, then it is for US, myself included, and everyone benefits. I have learned to be aware of that arrogant, wayward spirit of mine, and no longer be a slave to it. It’s easy to reconnect to my Soul through the Gentle Breath Meditation®.
From this connection the CHOICES become simple.
- I can stay in that old comfortable defensive place OR I can choose the qualities of that amazing child I once was.
- I lost the natural child’s way and became too intense. Now I can choose to be simple, playful and silly.
- I have always been sensitive to how others view me. Now I can choose not to mind what people think of me, but be appreciative of who I am.
- In the past, I have found it difficult to speak to others about what I truly feel. Now I can choose to find and see the beauty in everyone, but feel when they cover it up, and tell them.
- In the past I have always over-planned and controlled my life. I can choose to be loving with my body and myself and then I will not be able to complicate things or demand from myself more than is appropriate. Each day is an open book for me to write my loving life in.
There is no need to hang on to old resentments, or anything from the day before – EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY WITH NEW GIFTS.
If we choose to allow life to unfold from our loving choices and see the beautiful picture of ourselves, we grow and shine. Loving myself and valuing my choices has not been something I have chosen until now.
I no longer give all the little unnecessary niggles of daily life any importance.
Knowing we are part of a greater whole, that there is more to me than meets the eye, that I am soul, connected to everyone and everything, then life deepens and widens as I embrace the bigger picture.
I know that my sense of myself, and the deep, deep loving place within, can support me no matter what is thrown at me emotionally, psychologically, or physically. I am still learning this but slowly I am developing that loving foundation within myself by allowing myself to rest when I feel to, eat when I feel to and express my truth when I feel to.
Our bodies never lie. They are our messenger. Embrace and listen to the wisdom offered. I have driven and overridden my body all my life. As a child we have to learn to have patience and wait till our bodies are ready to do those things we may want to do too soon, and in old age we have to learn to let go of many things we used to enjoy because the body is saying no. This is something I am really learning to follow now. Waiting and just being becomes a pleasure, and new skills and interests can come in as we let life unfold before us day by day. And so they do! I now take part in things I never did before.
Children speak their minds and the truth in no uncertain terms, and often the old do too.
Claiming ourselves, even if we have lost the connection with it in our mid years, is a powerful way to not feel marginalised and ignored and invisible, as many old people do. It is a time to live ourselves fully and not go into decline, whatever the body is doing. We are still ALIVE inside and capable of joy.
I nearly went into total decline and lost my vitality, but that was my choice, although I didn’t realise it at the time. It was easier and felt like a more comfortable place to be. Not so, it was debilitating and damaging. Don’t go there – choose your own Livingness.
I have learned to not give my body’s symptoms too much importance by worrying about them, only to listen to what my body is telling me.
Old age is a time for reflection, not nostalgia, or longing for past things. Silence and stillness become places of connection to ourselves, each other and the world. We can be always open to the new.
There is a wonderful feeling in letting go of competition. Children do not naturally compete. I heard a child psychologist once describe an incident in Africa. He was researching the children’s responses in a certain tribe, and he placed a ball under a tree and asked them to race to the ball and pick it up. They all ran together, and not one child picked it up. They waited until they were all there and then they played with it together. When he asked them why they did not compete they said,
“Why would we want to do that, we are all one together. We would not want to beat one of our brothers.”
So in old age we can let go of that competition and gracefully wait or give way for others to join us where we are. And we can observe without judgment, enjoying others for who they are.
It is very simple really. It is finding that deep still place within where I can truly feel that there IS a choice, and that it does not come from the MIND, it is HEART-FELT, a knowing of what I know is the truth.
The surrender to the reality of old age and the wisdom it offers becomes a joyful way of living – and all fears drop away, and then there is no need to be afraid of death, it is just another step.
All this has been made possible for me through the seven years of being a student of The Way of the Livingness. Now in my seventies, although I still feel like a very new student, my life is infinitely richer, deeper, and more harmonious than it ever was in my life before.
Joan C., UK
For further reading you may also like:
Ageing beautifully by making self-loving choices