Acceptance |
Wednesday Apr 16 2008
The truth is that I have won the lottery of life. I am happy.
So why don’t people speak as if getting older is the best news around? Why do people have so many strategies for resisting that they are aging and that, yes, eventually they will explore the great unknown? Are they trying to control the process of life or are they simply in denial?
Since we can't control aging (in spite of all our efforts), we have the same choice we always have when we aren't in control. We can either surrender or resist. Resistance leads to some variety of suffering based on the belief that reality 'should be' different than it is. Surrendering is not the same as ‘giving up’ or succumbing. It is choosing reality as it is—a surrender that leads to serenity.
So today, I am living fully and age is transparent, a non-conversation. I am not taking my age personally and I’m choosing to interpret others’ deference to my years as their appreciation for who I am (rather than as their response to how old I am). The point is that we have a choice in how we interpret life: the more we can cultivate acceptance of ourselves (including our age), the more we can create satisfaction in every moment.
Written by eldering at Fearless Aging
Tagged with: acceptance age aging appreciation choice control denial resist surrender
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