THE LATE DAVID BOWIE once said, “ageing is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been”. That is very true for those who never lost sight or didn’t abandon their dreams during the ageing process. However, there are many people out there who have just let life pass them by, using a variety of excuses, such as, circumstance, situation, time, roles and expectations etc. for them not to be where they would like to be.
One thing we can be certain of in life, is that we cannot escape the ageing process, however, the success of the outcome is dependent on how we implement the process through this transition.
In our current climate of having to remain at home, self-isolation, limited physical contact with family and friends, there is no better time than right now to have a moment of introspection, no matter what age we are. For those of you by yourself, being alone will allow you the freedom and solitude to have a moment to remember who you are and what you want in life. For those who are with others to take a good look around and ask yourself how authentic you are? Is this the path you set out to follow? Is this the direction you want to be going in? I am not saying that all is doom and gloom, on the contrary all I am saying is, that in this moment, take a step back and silently look within, re-evaluate your authenticity, your circumstance and situation, look again at the direction you are heading or even just to look at our capability….. what? why? who? and how you are managing all this?
For many of you this will be the first time that you have spent so much time together with others, discovering or even rediscovering relationships, revisiting or starting new hobbies, coming across new skills that you previously underestimated your ability in. I personally believe things happen for a reason and I feel the dimension of ‘time’ has been forced upon us. You may find this is the first occasion where you are not dictated to by ‘time’ as an excuse for you not to do things! You can now read that book, experiment with food, become the artist, learn that instrument, put pen to paper and write that book within you. The list of possibilities is endless, possibilities to create or even expand and get through the ‘meaning of life’. You have the control, “the meaning of life is between our ears. In many ways this makes us the Lords of our own creation” (Stephen Hawking)
I conclude by saying that let us not focus on anti-ageing, but to re-focus on Super-Ageing; happily, peacefully and gracefully and in order to do so, make sure you take a moment and reflect on where you were, where you are at, and where you wish to be. The moral of all this is that as we age we know we cannot go back and change the beginning, but we know that we can start now and change the ending!
