 | As we age it is possible to learn a whole new way to live and embrace life in a way that supports us going forward as the decades pass and we prepare for our departure and our next life. This way is not the accepted way by the majority of humanity. |
Age is viewed as a natural deterioration of one’s physical and mental acuities, and yes, there is a certain amount of wear and tear involved, especially when we have not been encouraged to listen to our body and its many messages, subtle and otherwise.
It was not something I contemplated when I was young. I simply lived each day as it came with the main focus being on what would best serve me and my life – the whims and wishes of a self-centred human being who had not been introduced (at least in this life) to the wonders of multi-dimensionality and all the possibilities of enrichment both of myself and others. I considered only what would best serve me and my whims, and heaven forbid that I would be asked to consider what might serve humanity as we were somehow all enrolled in the same self-centred lifestyle that was slowly depleting the whole of mankind.
I had never stopped to consider that there might be another way to live life that may introduce a more natural and harmonious way to live side by side supporting one another to deepen and expand a lifestyle that would augment and enhance life for all.
It was not until I reached the age of 62 that life began to truly open up and present another way – The Way of the Livingness.
This has unfolded over the years and when I entered the seventh decade, I began to realise that things were changing and that a shift was taking place. Over the last couple of decades, I had slowly become aware that my body, like a car, was showing signs of wear and tear – and yet unlike the car my body was not subject to a yearly service and overhaul. Somehow, we seem to have an expectation that our body will keep running forever, or at least until it comes to a major stop, and this is what began to occur for me.
Once I had turned 70, I began to develop lower back pain which up until that time had not been apparent. On reflection I can feel how I made an appointment with the doctor feeling that he would know how ‘to fix’ this particular problem in my body, and this follows the generally accepted attitude of most others living on this planet where there appears to be no apparent awareness of the long-term effects of pushing ourselves way beyond what I now consider to be loving and caring.
I continued seeing a doctor and gradually they sent me for x-rays that showed a scoliosis. I also had a Dexa scan which revealed that I had osteoporosis. I continued to live life reasonably fully and a couple of years passed. At this point I was not ready to embrace the disregarding way that I had been living.
Even with the serious consequences of my lifestyle that indicated a deep neglect in the way I used my body, I still was not ready to really take on board that my way of living was not reflecting that of a sensitive and delicate being that I was slowly allowing myself to feel was the woman I was in my essence.
I slowly began to take more attention both in what I put into my body in the way of food and supplements as well as feeling the benefit of regular exercise and a daily walk. The joy of movement in the body was something I had not appreciated until I began to marry the deeper sense of living in a way that allowed the body’s movement to slowly free itself from the constant knots and tension that build up over a period of time when the being inside the body is constantly neglected and in a state of continual motion without the benefit of repose.
During the summer of 2018 there was a particularly hot spell where the temperatures were predicted to be around 38 degrees centigrade, which for an English Summer is considered very hot. Knowing the effect that heat had on my body I knew that I needed to be extra aware of resting and not exerting myself during this time. Not difficult for most maybe but for someone who has lived life always succumbing to drive, I realised that I needed to be super aware and gentle with myself, and although I did rest, I noticed how my mind was constantly directing me to ‘just do this, and just do that’… the lesson that I was required to learn would take a little longer to unfold as I could feel the stubbornness of a woman who had been used to living life according to her own will and way.
A few days passed and it was lunchtime and cool enough to take a walk before I had my lunch. As I stepped outside my front door, I met another walker exercising her dog. Nothing very extraordinary in this and yet what was about to occur was life changing. I exchanged a few words with the dog walker and then decided to proceed on my way – and yet there was an energy that thought otherwise – I was literally shoved flat on the ground and instantly knew that I was not going anywhere very fast. As I lay on the pavement, I was unable to move mainly caused from the fear of the pain I knew this would engender. In a flash I realised what had happened and that I was being offered another of these amazing opportunities to learn. It was extraordinary how still I felt and how held I felt and any sense of being a victim was entirely dissipated. There was a sense of appreciation for another blessing that had come my way………
All of this was so completely new to me and I felt a sense of wonderment at my acceptance and willingness to be open to the lessons that were being literally laid at my feet. Up until this point I had lived a life of struggle and in a perverse way I had embraced and enjoyed this struggle as it had offered me an identity that I could drag around with me as I honed this particular role and made it my own. Oh, what a pathetic creature I had become – and yet the lesson was something that came with grace and a new wonderment at the way life, with its twists and turns, somehow takes care of us – and this being mainly because we are never alone.
And finally, the last opportunity was soon to present itself in the way of a small lump on my left breast. The acceptance in my body of this revelation somehow did not surprise me at all – it was as though the preceding revelations were all leading up to this point and once again my body and my Soul were working together.
Our body works in such a miraculous way with no large fanfares – it simply presents us with the facts.
We then can either go into a heightened state of drama or deepen and go within where support has been building a foundation of stillness and steadiness that will undeniably hold us as we once again step out into the world.
As I presented my news to my blood family, I was deeply aware that this was not to be a ‘drama’ as so often portrayed in our lives. This was another learning for me and for all of those in my life and to be seen as a blessing where together we can observe and ponder.
I have never before in this life felt such equanimity and for quite a while this perplexed me – how was it that I could feel so at one with everything that was going on around me? It felt as though I had been offered a wisdom that was from beyond the stars. An indescribable stillness settled upon me and held me unlike anything that I had experienced before.
There was a brief moment when I was presented with the response of what one envisages one will feel when they are informed that they have a possible life-threatening disease – isn’t one supposed to melt into an unmanageable sense of foreboding as though life has somehow let us down? Yet the reality is that here I was confronted with this information and yet the stillness and wonder that I felt at this time felt more like a blessing than a curse.
When I recall this period of my life I felt totally held – held in the arms of God – which I was. Whatever has happened to me in this life I have always known that I was not alone – that God and the Hierarchy were walking beside me.
Susan L., UK
If you enjoyed this article you may also like to read:
Cancer – Disease or an Opportunity for Healing
It was not something I contemplated when I was young. I simply lived each day as it came with the main focus being on what would best serve me and my life – the whims and wishes of a self-centred human being who had not been introduced (at least in this life) to the wonders of multi-dimensionality and all the possibilities of enrichment both of myself and others. I considered only what would best serve me and my whims, and heaven forbid that I would be asked to consider what might serve humanity as we were somehow all enrolled in the same self-centred lifestyle that was slowly depleting the whole of mankind.
I had never stopped to consider that there might be another way to live life that may introduce a more natural and harmonious way to live side by side supporting one another to deepen and expand a lifestyle that would augment and enhance life for all.
It was not until I reached the age of 62 that life began to truly open up and present another way – The Way of the Livingness.
This has unfolded over the years and when I entered the seventh decade, I began to realise that things were changing and that a shift was taking place. Over the last couple of decades, I had slowly become aware that my body, like a car, was showing signs of wear and tear – and yet unlike the car my body was not subject to a yearly service and overhaul. Somehow, we seem to have an expectation that our body will keep running forever, or at least until it comes to a major stop, and this is what began to occur for me.
Once I had turned 70, I began to develop lower back pain which up until that time had not been apparent. On reflection I can feel how I made an appointment with the doctor feeling that he would know how ‘to fix’ this particular problem in my body, and this follows the generally accepted attitude of most others living on this planet where there appears to be no apparent awareness of the long-term effects of pushing ourselves way beyond what I now consider to be loving and caring.
I continued seeing a doctor and gradually they sent me for x-rays that showed a scoliosis. I also had a Dexa scan which revealed that I had osteoporosis. I continued to live life reasonably fully and a couple of years passed. At this point I was not ready to embrace the disregarding way that I had been living.
Even with the serious consequences of my lifestyle that indicated a deep neglect in the way I used my body, I still was not ready to really take on board that my way of living was not reflecting that of a sensitive and delicate being that I was slowly allowing myself to feel was the woman I was in my essence.
I slowly began to take more attention both in what I put into my body in the way of food and supplements as well as feeling the benefit of regular exercise and a daily walk. The joy of movement in the body was something I had not appreciated until I began to marry the deeper sense of living in a way that allowed the body’s movement to slowly free itself from the constant knots and tension that build up over a period of time when the being inside the body is constantly neglected and in a state of continual motion without the benefit of repose.
During the summer of 2018 there was a particularly hot spell where the temperatures were predicted to be around 38 degrees centigrade, which for an English Summer is considered very hot. Knowing the effect that heat had on my body I knew that I needed to be extra aware of resting and not exerting myself during this time. Not difficult for most maybe but for someone who has lived life always succumbing to drive, I realised that I needed to be super aware and gentle with myself, and although I did rest, I noticed how my mind was constantly directing me to ‘just do this, and just do that’… the lesson that I was required to learn would take a little longer to unfold as I could feel the stubbornness of a woman who had been used to living life according to her own will and way.
A few days passed and it was lunchtime and cool enough to take a walk before I had my lunch. As I stepped outside my front door, I met another walker exercising her dog. Nothing very extraordinary in this and yet what was about to occur was life changing. I exchanged a few words with the dog walker and then decided to proceed on my way – and yet there was an energy that thought otherwise – I was literally shoved flat on the ground and instantly knew that I was not going anywhere very fast. As I lay on the pavement, I was unable to move mainly caused from the fear of the pain I knew this would engender. In a flash I realised what had happened and that I was being offered another of these amazing opportunities to learn. It was extraordinary how still I felt and how held I felt and any sense of being a victim was entirely dissipated. There was a sense of appreciation for another blessing that had come my way………
All of this was so completely new to me and I felt a sense of wonderment at my acceptance and willingness to be open to the lessons that were being literally laid at my feet. Up until this point I had lived a life of struggle and in a perverse way I had embraced and enjoyed this struggle as it had offered me an identity that I could drag around with me as I honed this particular role and made it my own. Oh, what a pathetic creature I had become – and yet the lesson was something that came with grace and a new wonderment at the way life, with its twists and turns, somehow takes care of us – and this being mainly because we are never alone.
And finally, the last opportunity was soon to present itself in the way of a small lump on my left breast. The acceptance in my body of this revelation somehow did not surprise me at all – it was as though the preceding revelations were all leading up to this point and once again my body and my Soul were working together.
Our body works in such a miraculous way with no large fanfares – it simply presents us with the facts.
We then can either go into a heightened state of drama or deepen and go within where support has been building a foundation of stillness and steadiness that will undeniably hold us as we once again step out into the world.
As I presented my news to my blood family, I was deeply aware that this was not to be a ‘drama’ as so often portrayed in our lives. This was another learning for me and for all of those in my life and to be seen as a blessing where together we can observe and ponder.
I have never before in this life felt such equanimity and for quite a while this perplexed me – how was it that I could feel so at one with everything that was going on around me? It felt as though I had been offered a wisdom that was from beyond the stars. An indescribable stillness settled upon me and held me unlike anything that I had experienced before.
There was a brief moment when I was presented with the response of what one envisages one will feel when they are informed that they have a possible life-threatening disease – isn’t one supposed to melt into an unmanageable sense of foreboding as though life has somehow let us down? Yet the reality is that here I was confronted with this information and yet the stillness and wonder that I felt at this time felt more like a blessing than a curse.
When I recall this period of my life I felt totally held – held in the arms of God – which I was. Whatever has happened to me in this life I have always known that I was not alone – that God and the Hierarchy were walking beside me.
Susan L., UK
If you enjoyed this article you may also like to read:
Cancer – Disease or an Opportunity for Healing