Humans universally dread getting older. In fact, in certain societies the elderly are viewed as a burden, further stigmatizing aging. Modern cultures value youth and the beauty associated with it, covertly condemning the process of aging; alternatively, more seasoned cultures celebrate the elderly and view them as a precious resource. By doing so, they honor the natural rhythm of life, which takes away everything at the price of wisdom.
When thinking about aging we tend to concentrate on all that we lose and never shift our attention to what we gain. Somehow aging has become associated with loss in our culture, loss of youth, loss of beauty, loss of power and so much more. Yet we never stop to think about the benefit of this process. Our accomplishments in life are generally rewarded at the end of each journey. For example, after the strenuous years of school comes the long- awaited graduation. Yet somehow, we have come to believe that aging is loss and translates to no reward, which leads one to wonder, do we gain anything as a result of all this loss?
Doing and accomplishing consume the younger years of life. From the first day of life the newborn initiates the process of acquiring. Everyday is marked by the triumph of learning, how to do something new. As one climbs the ladder of growth, the responsibilities augment and we continue to endure the assigned duties of society. This fast -paced process gets most of us caught in the wave of doing to survive life. Not many of us have the luxury to stop and contemplate who we are and how we want our story to unfold. The first time we have a chance to sit back and truly observe our journey is when we have already surpassed most of it. The older years are a time in which we finally get to reflect on purpose of our travel and the destination.
Youth in its literal meaning signifies immaturity and early stages of development, so why are we so sad to let go of this immaturity and to experience the sagacity of our older years? Aging is a process that allows us to tap into our being. If we truly understand aging not only, are we reluctant to judge it as negative, but we will celebrate it for the wisdom it represents. Aging has maturity in its essence. It delivers all that we seek in our earlier years. If we learn to embrace it rather than fight it we can come to experience the harmony in the changing seasons.
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