Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.
-Richard Wright
I love this quote. It speaks volumes in ones life journey book. I can admit it is challenging realizing who we are in the aging process. There are times that age creeps up and pushes all our dreams and desires to the side. Age also tries to dictate when we should stop working and sit down. It can create such sorrow at times.
When is the last time you peaked back into your younger years? What did you see? Did you every imagine where you are today? Who do people say that you are? These are challenging questions for many. But, we can't eat the whole elephant at once. We look at our life and find the wins and celebrate them.
What matters to many of us today is health, wellbeing and safety. As we age things like making more money, buying stuff just aren't important anymore. It doesn't matter how many cars are in the drive way. Many of us are looking for peace of mind, healthier body and living out the rest of our lives knowing a legacy is being left for others.
How about grandchildren? With the pandemic and all it's been difficult to spend quality time with our families. Grandparents miss their grand babies very much. After all they are the pride of a grandparents life. The grands. Whether you have 20 or 1 it really doesn't matter. Just the thought of knowing they are your grandchildren.
So what's next. Do you starve your mind with sorrow and grief the rest of your days looking at lack? Lack of friends, a community of like minded men and women, lack of things to do. Now that you have reached that rip age, what will you do with it? Of course there are many who are completely depended on others to me their needs but couldn't they still have joy in their life? How do we find joy in a body that is in constant pain, stiff, and difficulty walking from one chair to the other? It sure makes life seem dim.
Andre' Gide said Learn what you are, and be such. How do we learn ourselves if we have been living a life that belongs to others. We have not developed our own character. So now that we are older, and limited in some abilities we try to continue the live through the eyes of others.
I remember watching a Matt Dillion episode and Festus was fussing about everything, constantly complaining about the people in the town, the saloon and even complained about old doc. Mattie Dillion said, "Festus you need a life" You thing so? Said Festus, Well, Matt I disagree you need to live like I do. I laughed because he insisted that Matt change his character and embrace the constant complaining he was doing and therefore they would have a day of complaining and get nothing done.
How many of you find yourself complaining about Everything? LoganHolme Psychology and counseling centre says, "complaining is bad for your brain." He further says take a moment to think about how many things you complain about per day
The weather
Traffic
Friends
Family
Boss
Horrible service at a restaurant
Internet is to slow
Just to name a few obvious complaints. The article goes on to say the complaining on a regular bases may lead you feeling:
Helpless
Hopeless
Victimized
Dissatisfaction
This may lead to a negative impact on your mood, self-esteem and general mental health..
Complaining is not a way to problem solve. Identifying the issues that is starving your joy, peace, health and your relationship with others is the key? How can you develop strategies to improve your health and live healthier? We first must identify the problem. For example
Hypertension. One of the strategies you may want to consider is tracking your salt intake. See if you are shaking salt on every meal. How about checking your blood pressure daily in the morning and before going to bed and developing a tracking system on paper or computer so you can see what your blood pressure is doing daily. It will take some effort and work. But your health matters.
Plan to start today thinking differently about your health and jumping on a healthier journey to getting your life back in control.
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