A New Day for Elders
It’s a new day for elders! We can be hopeful, we can be active, we can set big goals. We have lots of experience in the world and lots of knowledge. We’ve also made many mistakes that have added to our learning experience. Now it’s time to appreciate ourselves as elders and not give in to “feelings” of aging, which are so limiting.
There are hurdles. One of the biggest is our health. Many of us have chronic physical conditions due to the layers of physical and emotional hurts we’ve accumulated from lack of consistent discharge along the way.
A lot of our distresses about aging came in when we were younger, from watching older people and the way they were treated. We observed and absorbed elder oppression, but we didn’t pay much attention to it until we became older. Even now, how many of us have sessions on aging, on watching elders slow down and live narrower lives? We can become fearful of aging if we don’t discharge along the way. And it’s never too late. There is plenty of time for us—and our allies, too—to discharge the hard stuff we typically ignore.
Many elders have good lives, but what if I told you that it is great to be an elder? I want us to focus on how good things actually are. If we have to step outside the distress to do so, we can. Where can you notice that life is good now? And where is it hard? Do you get discouraged?
Without discharge, distresses can make us fear aging and death. We can live good lives without these feelings!
Bellaire, Texas, USA
(Present Time 182, January 2016)