Lily

I spent the last weekend with my 7 woman friends, aged late 40’s to mid-seventies. In this company, I participated in many of those familiar-by-now conversations about medical complaints, impending surgeries, and just plain loss of hearing, eyesight, and libido. (Does loss imply ever finding those items again?)

Did we sound like broken records? Absolutely not.

We’ve surprised even ourselves that ageing isn’t really such a scary thing. I can honestly say that each one of us has experienced more wisdom, wholeness, authenticity, and improved sense of humour with the arrival of age. Who would have thought?

Well, we would. We’ve invested much time and energy in making something out of our difficult pasts, and for some of us, current hardships. In simple terms, we know that what creates quality of life is how we choose to relate to people and situations. Everyone is dealt certain cards, but it’s up to us what meaning we assign to them.

This morning I woke up into the blues. There was plenty of evidence I could find to justify feeling low. I could have stayed in the grip of the citta vrtti, but I took myself off to the Yoga Shed, did appropriate practice and came back on an even keel.

It would seem that the purpose of having the gift of more years is to learn how to live.