Aging: So cool everyone’s doing it! I love this message-button from the National Center to Reframe Aging. ALL OF US AGE, if we are fortunate to be alive. However, aging often is cast in a negative light and applied to people of a certain age.
Even when positive vibes are intended, an assumption is made that seasoned citizens are the ones who are aging. For example, September is “Healthy Aging Month” in the U.S. If you Google the suggested actions for the month, they refer to bodymind health of older adults: “…as we age, our minds and bodies change…Move more, sit less….” We might also apply such practical advice to precious children and grandchildren who sit glued to their digital devices.
It is positive that we now have a global focus upon improving the lot of older adults. The United Nations initiated a “Decade of Healthy Aging” (2021-2039) with The World Health Organization asked to take the lead in proactive initiatives for older adults and their families.
My proactive initiative for inspiration for your own aging is to read journalist David Von Drehle’s The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-year-old Man. Von Drehle intended to write a legacy book for his children that might unlock fountain-of-youth secrets through perpetual thick-and-thin times. What he uncovered in the life story of his centenarian neighbor is part history and part parable about possibilities in life.
Dr. Charlie White always made the most of possibilities in his 100+ years: “He had a gift for seizing joy, grabbing opportunities, and holding on to things that matter. And he had an unusual knack for an even more difficult task: letting go of all the rest.” If you read no further than this gem on page 12, you will gain perspective. Yes, treasure the gift of joy over and over! This might be useful as a mantra for longevity. And add this follow-up mantra — live more in the present moment when you let go of what cannot be changed in your past.
Von Drehle always found a take-away thought or two after visiting Charlie: “…his past was a forward-looking place.” When Charlie had no money for college and medical school, he bought a used tenor saxophone from a friend and taught himself how to play with this wisdom: “When you don’t have income, you create.” Not only did he improvise with a small band to make ends meet, he improvised in his house visits to sick patients when he had to think outside of his black doctor bag.
Ageism stereotypes people and hampers possibilities. Let’s follow Charlie advice: “Think freely. Practice patience. Smile often. Savor special moments. Feel deeply. Observe miracles. Make them happen. Be soft sometimes. Cry when you need to. Make some mistakes. Learn from them.”
Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz
219. When is the last time you recognized joy in your life?
220. How might letting go of the past increase your life wisdom?
Pearls of Peace: A Family Psychologist’s Circle-of-Life Blog 
Joy exists right outside my windows. It amazes me how often I merely glance out, for no apparent reason, and some critter is busy: a single bird or a bunch of them, a squirrel, a rabbit, going about their mysterious business. Their entertaining movements may last but a minute, yet the smile they produce in me lasts long after they – and I – move on. Clouds and rainbows and sunsets and a full moon can have the same effect. Fleeting, fulfilling, easy to miss, they punctuate a mundane day.
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How joyful to hear your encounters with the nature right outside your windows! I watched a hummingbird come close to my kitchen window this week and linger there, fluttering their tiny wings at some incredible speed. A visitor watched with me, spellbound. Nature delivers many exclamation points!
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