There is Nothing to Fear when Aging!

The fear of aging is inbuilt in most people, due to our materialistic philosophy. Which is not our desires and ownership of things per se, but our idea that reality is limited to what we perceive through the five senses. This then divorces us from a spiritual experience, leaving the understanding that “if it is shown us then we will believe”.
This belief has a profound effect on how you might view the cycles of our life from birth through maturity, aging and onto death. Viewing life through a lens of sight taste smell hearing and touch, death would be the end of the road.
Even for people who adhere to a faith, other realms may exist, however they are apart from our earthly life giving us somewhere to go. This view from a material philosophy gives the idea we are separate beings in a changing world awaiting our annihilation. Is it any wonder death, aging and sickness are viewed with so much fear and dread?
Perhaps if we were to begin to understand that this kind of thinking has had a detrimental influence on our culture then thinking outside this box will give a different view of the process of aging.
We need to look at whether it is enough to be the sum of our possessions. Does worldly success bring the comfort peace and serenity we all desire or do we sometimes feel like we have been had, as we move into our aging and look around at inanimate objects, which I am not objecting to per se. Only that in the end they can and will not satisfy the longing for peace we all have.
Expanding our self-image beyond the separate self or the focus on the senses which is driven by a desire to have it all now, with referencing the past and its conditioned responses, this contains only a narrow awareness. Discovering there is more than the bodily senses in life is a good place to start, to begin to ask the questions and await the answers.
A focus on the soul, through meditation and contemplation will give the experience of awareness beyond time and conceptual understanding. The growth of awareness of the Soul brings the light and ripening of Love in life.
To cultivate a new mind is to realize we are more than a body with a brain. Moving beyond this limited awareness is all that is required to begin to understand the aging process as a time for healing and an expanded opportunity for peace and love.
It is not aging that creates suffering but how we deal with aging. Many will go for the “if only” and bemoan the lack of a youthful body. Completely ignoring the underpinning opportunity to see and understand what this stage of the life cycle has on offer.
The depth of opportunity is inherent in this time of life. Take it!
If you do decide to take the time to increase mindfulness and see how out of control your mind really is don’t despair, this like any other practise takes your effort. The efficacy will surface. And the facing of demons about death and aging can then be faced with calmness.
I wish you well on your endeavoursr
Margo Knox
www.babyboomerswithpurpose.com
www.retirewithpurpose.org