These Precious Years
Later life, the last chapter, the third third, the final phase. Call it what you will, but everyone who has had their “mortality moment” around age 60 knows exactly what I’m talking about. One day, out of the blue, you realize that this is the beginning of the last part of your life that will ultimately end with your death. You are now in a distinctly unique period of life that is unlike any other. You recognize that you still have a good deal of time left, but you also realize that your time ahead will predominantly be living as an older person, with your peak energy and ambition years behind you. While you may have more leisure time, you will most likely face more health issues. This realization—this sacred message—is at once bittersweet, sobering, and profoundly life enhancing.
Plus, this realization kicks off all kinds of mind-numbing questions! What have I done with my life? What do I plan to do with the rest of my life? What is truly important to me? What would I regret the most not having done or said or tried? Is there a purpose to my existence? How do I live as long as possible and stay healthy, so I won’t suffer as I get older? How do I make these years as enjoyable and meaningful as possible? Do I have any regrets about things I have done that are fixable or changeable? These are the kinds of questions that arise, and if you allow yourself to digest the impact of this big, new episode, the answers may present themselves.
In the background, hovering like a giant storm cloud in the far distance, is mortality, the end of your life, when you will no longer be alive. Everything you are will cease to be. You will no longer feel the exquisite sensations you now have of yourself and the world around you. You will no longer see, hear, feel, or think. You will be asleep—forever. These thoughts can be scary, but they can also be one of the greatest gifts you will ever receive. If you take their message to heart and use the power they infuse you with, they can literally save your life. These thoughts can instill a new sense of purpose and inspiration. They can help you put your past into perspective as you realize the years that brought you to this point, exactly where you are now, were meant to be.
Days of Wonder …
If you listen to the message of mortality, life takes on a new preciousness that you may not have seen before. When you let the message of mortality take hold—the recognition and acceptance that, at some point, you will no longer be here—then being here, in the present moment, becomes a new, profound and deeper experience than it was when you weren’t paying as much attention to it. As a matter of fact, one of my biggest realizations is exactly that: “How could I have not paid attention to my existence all these years? How could I have not seen the wonder of how amazing it is to simply be alive? How could I have not appreciated the precious moments of being alive, knowing that someday I will no longer be here?”
If you live with this amazement, with this simple freshness and spontaneity, your life becomes something you never expected in the days when you were trying to “make something of yourself” or trying to be a certain type of person or trying to live up to some idealistic version of yourself or others’ expectations. This amazement becomes a refreshing drink of water that you can sip freely whenever you please. Simply knowing that you are part of this vast universe is enough to fuel your words and actions and to give others the unique gifts that only you are capable of giving.
… And Days of Health
To have all these realizations and awakenings at the same time that your health and energy are slowly becoming more fragile with age is one of life’s great ironies. But here again, there is much to learn. The message is clear: Good health is one of the wonders of life, and you may not have paid much attention to it until now. But now it matters more than ever. Now your good health becomes the vehicle to ensure you experience more days of wonder, more precious moments of life and revelation.
Also, once good health truly matters to you, you can find many ways to restore and maintain your health that you weren’t aware of when you were taking your health for granted. And you can find that paying attention to yourself and your body is a pretty wonderful way to appreciate life and spend your time. It helps to realize just how miraculous your body, and you, really are. When you pay more attention to health, you learn about fragility and strength, resilience and renewal. You learn how to heal, in body and soul. You tap into healing energies inside you that you didn’t even know you had, which form the deep underground river of life of your organic and psychic self.
And so, my friends, pay attention to this last chapter of your life, no matter what you call it. These golden years are profoundly unique, precious, and wonderful. The riddle to the mystery and meaning of your life is inside you. It is a riddle that is eminently answerable, and there are as many right answers as there are people on this planet. What’s yours?
