|
The Art
of Aging with Wisdom
"Youth" is nature.
"Age" is an Art!
"The reports of your demise…
have been greatly exaggerated."
The history of our species... translates directly
to our experience as "Individuals".
And from my experience... the wildest things can
happen... at the most unexpected times.
It's all part
of trying to control a Universe...
that's looking as chaotic as a Whirl
Wind.
|
|
What is a Mid-life
Crisis Anyway?
"It's when you finally get there,
and find out there is no there."
"Your
first life belongs to nature…
Your second life belongs to you!"
|
 |
Let's get
right to it! You gave away... a lot of personal rights...
in your first life, because you were
struggling for love and status
and thought you had to.
The desires that you pursue in your
"second life", because they come from your
deepest gifts and are not impeded by
the
obstacles of youth, can lead you to Greatness! Not
just
happiness... But Greatness!
The truth is: There's somebody inside of you...
who hasn't
happened yet! Who's been waiting
to come on the scene
and "create" a new life!
One that was never
possible until now. You may be saying
things to yourself like:
"For the first time in my memory, I don't feel lonely.
Most curious of all... I don't feel old."
"I
am free to do any damn thing I please!"
|
The "ache" of need
is gone. Be funny, tough and
sassy!
Whenever
life is exciting, notions of Age just fall
away.
People
act like "themselves" not
the representatives of
some stereo-typed age
group.
When you give
up your youthful "urgency" to control every
outcome, you can finally throw yourself
wholeheartedly
without
conflict, into whatever matters to you!
"All you're responsible for
is what you can do." The rest is up to fate.
Mid-life is when you decide not to kill yourself…
because you realize you're going to die anyway.
When you're going after "Fame and Fortune", you can't
have a Self. You'll always be the
central person in your
life, and to live the right life for "you",
you will need a
strong
sense of "Self".
In your second life, you'll be picking
up the dreams you
neglected and developing the gifts, that
weren't valued
before.
Becoming a "master"
is a position reserved for people
who
are willing to direct their individual
attention... toward
their craft, and who
are too passionately engaged to
waste
precious
time seeking admiration.
Your intellect has developed
and it wants to let go of it's
grasping... it wants to stop
being hampered... by
self-consciousness. The world is a great University!
Time
Time isn't going anywhere…
it just became visible.
"Fear" gobbles
"Time"
|
The passage
of time will drive you crazy... when you know
that you aren't using it, in
the right way.
"Time" is
your medium. Whatever magnificent things you
will ever do, will be molded not
of time itself. But like
a sailor who uses waves
and wind, "time" will carry you...
And
a time limit, is nothing but a dock to push off from...
at the start of a voyage.
Death
"Death"
is the mother of beauty...
It is also the mother of time.
|
One of the most
peculiar characteristics of time... is that
you can't use it with all your heart... until you've glimpsed
"death" upon the road ahead.
Stay numb, and
live someone else's life... instead of your
own and your life ends years earlier.
There's more than
one kind of "death", and you don't
have
to run out of time... to experience it. The
knowledge
that
you will die… is the
beginning of accomplishment.
"Death" sorts out your priorities... very fast.
The fear of becoming everything you're capable of, just
took second place...
to the fear of "not" becoming.
No frame, no painting, no deadline... no work of
art,
(Time limits... are woven into all our greatest enterprises).
You have big things to do! And nothing else will remind
you to do them.
Invisibility
The more time you waste...
fighting with the "phantoms"
of
age... the longer you postpone the
most exciting
developments in your life!
There's no avoiding images of people over
40, 50, 60
and 70.
They run the world...
they're busy.
My mother used
to say, " When you become forty... you
become invisible."
Well , being
invisible puts a great power... into your
hands!
The power to be yourself!
The freedom to
do as you please. Because when
people
stop "seeing" you... they lose control
over you.
To "act your
age", is to be controlled by others,
and
maybe, you just shouldn't give a damn
anyway!
You can't
emerge a "true original", until you're free of the
grip of youth.
A young woman
can be controlled, with time and trouble,
but an older woman is
uncontrollable... by any force...
known
to man!
When I
was a little girl, and having an
argument with my brother, I would say, "I don't like your Altitude!" (It was
quite funny
at the time), But now that
I'm older, I have
not only "attitude",
but also "altitude".
It is
like I'm sitting up in the clouds watching wisely over
the world!
Don't decide
you're too old to do something, before
you
really are. "Time is Clay", make
something!
If you've got a big
dream... go for it! But never
believe
it's your last!
Some of my happiest times... had nothing
to do with
"beauty". Love is about "seeing" you need
to have a
stable identity.
Don't become
shallow… become deep! It is the hidden
drama... the secret mission. In personal
matters, "winning"
is the lonely choice.
Treating life
as a sport is unaffectionate and
de-humanizing
and it creates a "poverty of
experience".
Quality of life... is the aim.
It
is the "mother of adventure".
|
Failure
Failure
sets you free... from the "rat
race".
|
When you lose
the game the invisible audience
disappears. And you get
the "calm focus" you need, to
design a
life that fits "you"!
Now you can
relax, because you have nothing to
lose!
Your chances for success
increases... when you respect
your obstacles. It's also
the only sustainable success you
can
have, sustainable... because you enjoy it.
And successful, because it will use
"your" original vision...
to create something, that no one else can
create! That
"Original Vision" will
never go away it will manifest
stronger and clearer with use.
You're always brilliant... at what you
really love to do,
because "love" is the banner of
"genius". If you met a
person exactly like you, what would you
value most
about him or her? What is first-rate about you?
You've simply
got to get in the habit of
noticing...
what you gravitate towards. What
makes your hands
happy?
What your
mind... loves to think about. (Your
inner
satisfaction... becomes more important,
than status or
praise).
That means... that
you can "choose" to do a good job
and keep promises, and you can afford
to be generous... because since it
doesn't deprive you... of what you
need…
giving is no longer a form... of
"self-sacrifice".
When you quit
trying to avoid "their" scorn... you take
away all their power!
Name the people
you have admired... throughout your
life… Why
did you admire them?
|
