Uncategorized on Aging

When Social Security first came into being, our life span was thought to be about 70 years at most. Since we have learned so much medically and nutritionally, people are living far longer. In 1776, someone born in the US was expected to live to about 35. Lifestyle and technical advances have more than doubled that figure. The National Institute of Aging projects that by the middle of the next century, life expectancy will be nearly 92 for women and 86 for men.

Today, more than 35 million are over the age of 65 (that’s about 1/7 th of the population – and with the baby boomers coming of age, the Census Bureau in the US predicts that the over 70 million born between 1946 and 1964 will reach retirement age.

Until recently, aging was regarded with disdain, with an expectancy of waning vigor and even social uselessness. But the stereotypes are slowly changing and some seniors are becoming more and more interested in true lifelong learning, healthy lifestyles and even political activism. We are truly seeing a population reinventing itself and living more consciously.

Negative Stereotypes

Even gerontologists no longer regard the negative stereotypes to which we have become accustomed as a natural outcome of aging. We no longer need to expect physical and mental decline in later years. Unfortunately, not everyone believes this and many still hold beliefs that keep them from aging gracefully.

The course- Embracing The Aging Process is meant to show its users that there is a way to age successfully and consciously, so that the later years can actually be ones of increased physical strength, continued intellectual growth and stimulation, ongoing meaningful ‘work’ or purposeful living, and a renewed sense of leaving a lasting legacy to future generations.

The aging process can become, not a time of crisis, but a time of increased self-development and spiritual growth. In the past, midlife was seen as the beginning of the end. Sociologists are now calling this period a time of ‘sage-ing’ where people are taking their place as elders rather than as the elderly. Our society will be a better place as this new group learns to use this wisdom in service, or what psychologists like Erikson and Jung have called, generativity

Published: August 20, 2014 10:30 AM
By PETER KING  pwking@aol.com in Newsday

Counting your blessings can bring more joy than counting your money, according to a new survey.

Results from the 2014 United States of Aging survey shows adults 60 and older are generally satisfied with their lives and optimistic about the future. The survey, sponsored by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the National Council on Aging, United Healthcare and USA Today, has been taken annually since 2012.

Compared to last year’s survey, older adults are more confident about their financial situation, but when asked the key to keeping a positive outlook on life, money was a distant 10th on the list.

“The No. 1 answer was spirituality,” says Rhonda Randall, a gerontologist and chief medical officer for United Healthcare Retiree Solutions. In fact, 25 percent of adults 60 and older said “faith or spirituality” was the key to happiness, followed by “a loving family” (15 percent) and “a positive attitude” (14 percent). Only 5 percent said “being financially secure” was the most important factor.

Perhaps the best news in the survey is older adults are getting serious about improving their health and eating habits. About 37 percent said they exercise at least 30 minutes every day compared to 26 percent in the 2013 survey.

But while actually exercising and eating well are important for physical health, simply making plans to ramp up activity and nutrition appears to have benefits for emotional health. Those seniors who said they set health goals were more than twice as likely to think their quality of life will improve and three times as likely to believe their health will get better.

“Just the act of setting a goal for your health has a positive effect,” Randall says. “There’s a degree of optimism that comes with setting the goal and believing that you can achieve the goal you set.”

This year’s survey also showed seniors feeling less pessimistic. For example, 22 percent said the current year was the worst in their lives or worse than normal.

A year ago, 24 percent said 2013 was worst ever/worse than normal. And in the 2012 survey, as seniors were still recovering from the Great Recession, 34 percent said that year was the worst ever/worse than normal.

As for their biggest worry, the No. 1 choice was “not being able to take care of myself” (16 percent), followed by “losing my memory” (14 percent) and “being a burden” (9 percent).

For the complete survey, go to nwsdy.li/agingsurvey.

Dualistic thinking is the well-practiced pattern of knowing most things by comparison. And for some reason, once you compare or label things (that is, “judge” them), you almost always conclude that one is good and the other is less good or even bad. In the first half of life, this provides ego boundaries and clear goals, which creates a nice clean “provisional personality.” But it is not close to the full picture that we call truth.

Dualistic thinking works only for a while to get us started, but if we are honest, it stops being helpful in most real-life situations. It is fine for teenagers to think that there is some moral or “supernatural” superiority to their chosen baseball team, their army, their ethnic group, or even their religion or gender; but one hopes that later in life they learn that such polarity is just an agreed-upon game. Your frame should grow larger as you move toward the Big Picture in which one God creates all and loves all, both Dodgers and Yankees, blacks and whites, Palestinians and Jews, gays and straights, Americans and Afghanis.

Non-dualistic thinking or both-and thinking is the benchmark of our growth into the second half of life. This more calm and contemplative seeing does not appear suddenly, but grows almost unconsciously over many years of conflict, confusion, healing, broadening, loving, and forgiving reality. It emerges gradually as we learn to “incorporate the negative,” learn from what we used to exclude, or, as Jesus put it, “forgive our enemies” both within and without.

You no longer need to divide the field of every moment between up and down, totally right or totally wrong, for or against. It just is what it is. This inner calm allows you to confront what must be confronted with even greater clarity and incisiveness. This stance is not at all passivity. It is, in fact, the essential link between true contemplation and skillful action. The big difference is that your small and petty self is now out of the way, and if God wants to use you or love you, which God always does, God’s chances are far better now!

Adapted from Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life,
pp. 146-148

Do you have a favorite holiday?  I certainly do. It’s Thanksgiving. I think it’s because I was born near Thanksgiving and in fact, for most of my formative years, I thought all of America was celebrating My birthday!  (Now that’s a great way to develop good self-esteem…)

Thanksgiving, Gratitude, Appreciation have all been very important themes in my life – so, you can imagine that it came as quite a shock to me when not long ago, I was sitting on my comfortable purple wing back chair in my peaceful, green living room, having a conversation with my business coach.  When out from the mouth of the speaker  phone, I distinctly heard him say – Toni – all you ever do is complain. 

You’ve been doing nothing but complaining since the first time we started to work together.  All I hear from you is Complaint, Complaint, Complaint.

Wow!  That was a shock.  Not me – I’m one of the most positive people I know.  After all, I really believe that It’s a wonderful world.  I believe that the Universe is a friendly place.  I see the Good in everything and everyone. (well – almost everyone!)

For heavens sake, I even teach people to create gratitude journals, to live in appreciation and find the positive aspects about every situation. I’m always talking about focusing on the good. I do this for a living.

Did he know who he was talking to? I quickly moved back away from the phone (as if that would help what I was hearing) and decided then and there that he clearly hadn’t heard anything I had been saying all those months we were working together – surely, he didn’t understand me –– He must have ME mistaken with someone else….  I was not a happy camper.

I see complaining as the direct opposite of gratitude and that just wasn’t the image I ever held of myself. 

He went on to tell me – it’s subtle but nonetheless true,

you never think that you are doing enough, or that what you ARE doing is goodenough and I’ve even noticed that most of the goals you have set are because you feel like YOU are NOT ENOUGH.  Toni – I call that constantly complaining…

WHEW!   I didn’t like what I was hearing ONE bit –and so, I did what any high self-esteem person would have done at the moment –  I ended my relationship with him!

After spending some time COMPLAINING about this coach to my friends!! – I began to take a closer look at my life and what I was saying and thinking – albeit unconsciously. And, so, IF YOU PROMISE NOT TO COMPLAIN –  I will share with you today all the complaints that I have let go of since and how that has radically changed my life.

If you are complaining at all – you can’t be feeling and living in gratitude.  I suggest we prepare for Thanksgiving this year by beginning to  NOTICE the number of ways we complain in life and make a commitment to letting go of all complaints.

This goes along with the message I gave here last month about allowing everything to be okay – it’s just a little more subtle…

So – what do I mean about letting go of complaints -That means – the complaints you have about things not going your way – perhaps with the economy – or the govt;- or maybe we should start with something easier like your neighbors, you job or in your relationships;

the complaints you have about other people’s stupidity or lack of insight (which means they don’t think like you!) –

the complaint that says – I wish I were somewhere else or doing something else… When we aren’t accepting what is exactly as it is, we are actually complaining!

DISTRACTIONS from the present moment are a way of our being UNGRATEFUL for what is. 

Whenever we fail to focus on what we are doing, we are in effect criticizing it – wanting to do something else.

(I told you this was subtle.)

What did you complain about this past week?  Yesterday?  This morning?

Remember that What we focus on increases – When you complain, you are actually inviting the Universe to give you more to complain about!!

Do you want to know God more and to allow the perfect plan for your life to present itself in you?  Then rather than complain about things as they are – begin to NOTICE only what is RIGHT in your life and in all your affairs.

You will notice that if you start conversation with criticism all join in…and if you start with praise, the same happens.

Mrs. Jones entertained at a musical afternoon in her home.  The feature was a great and well known violinist.  When it was all over, everybody crowded around the musician.

I’ve got to be very frank with you, one of the guests said.. I think your performance was terrible.  
Whereupon the hostess interposed:: Pay no attention to him.  He doesn’t know what he is talking about.  He only repeats what he hears everyone else say.

Find something to appreciate in everyone you know.

If you find yourself in a conversation today where others are complaining – gently but deliberately turn the tide of the conversation to WHAT IS WORKING. We Get what we focus on in life.

Do you want more wholeness in your physical body?  Then praise the evidence of life and health that you already have, and the divine intelligence within your cells will be encouraged to create even greater wholeness and well-being. Even our bodies respond more to LOVE Than to criticism. (my personal story lately!….)

DO you want more prosperity?  Begin to truly APPRECIATE what you do have – whatever resources you do have,  – stop looking at what isn’t there and look at what IS instead and you will find that and what you have will multiply in new and creative ways

Forbes Magazine

If we noticed little pleasure, as we notice little pains

If we quite forgot our losses and remembered all our gains

If we looked for people’s virtues and their faults refused to see

What a comfortable, happy, cheerful place this world would be.

There is a story told about a woman Zen master named Sono who taught one very simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came to her to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The affirmation was, “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.”

      Many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some were in physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress or what question they asked, her response was the same: “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.” Some people went away disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue with her. Yet some people took her suggestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells that everyone who practiced Sono’s mantra found peace and healing.

      Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.      Can you imagine what your life would be like if you simply dropped your complaints? It’s a radical proposal, since most of us have been trained to question, analyze, and criticize everything we see.

I used to teach critical thinking – and it’s an important skill to master – but, I found after a while that I was more easily noticing what was wrong with things than what was right.  Does anybody else see themselves in this or am I alone?

And, then, of course, we end up questioning, analyzing, and criticizing ourselves. Then we miss out on joy, the only true measure of success.

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

      Perhaps there is a voice inside you objecting, “But if I did not complain, people would walk all over me and if we stopped complaining about our government – terrorists would keep crashing airplanes into buildings, and, selfish opportunists would genetically manipulate our food  and all kinds of new viruses would creep into our lives –and–Got it.

      Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.  When you are truly living that, you can’t help but experience gratitude.  And, the next step after FEELING gratitude is acting out of gratitude – which is acting in service. 

I’d like to suggest this month that you consider the organizations and people you complain about – maybe even this Church — and then ask – HOW CAN I SERVE those very people and organizations? 

Where have you found yourself saying THIS needs to be done… Why isn’t anyone doing  x?   What in your life do you believe SHOULD be happening?  What are YOU doing about it?  

Listen how often you say HE SHOULD be doing… or – we need to….  If you’d said that or thought that – I’d like to tell you what Emma Curtis Hopkins, mystic and early New Thought teacher –  once said – If an idea comes to you about what needs to be done, it is YOURS TO DO..   (REPEAT)…

Whenever you are complaining – it is really your intuitive voice calling you to SERVE!  Now, how’s that for a reframe!!

I have a favorite poem about this that I’d like to share with you today… You might have heard it. It goes:

 There once were four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

An important job had to be done, and everybody was sure that somebody would do it. 

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. 

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.  
Everybody thought Anybody could do it and that Somebody would do it.

But Nobody realized that Everybody thought Somebody would do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

So – NO COMPLAINTS – and if you do complain, ask instead HOW YOU CAN SERVE and– find things to APPRECIATE.

I’d like to make a distinction between gratitude and appreciation.

Often, there is so much in the nuances of life. For me, the difference between gratitude and appreciation is one such nuance.  I used to keep a gratitude journal, now I write pages about what I appreciate.

Gratitude often points you towards a struggle you’ve overcome and so You’re happy that you’re out of it – some of your energy might still be on what you overcame. Sometimes we are grateful for what didn’t happen – like after being sick, we often feel grateful for our health.  Or when something we don’t like happens, we’re often grateful that it wasn’t worse.

Even when we receive something from someone else.. If we think we have to repay a debt – that’s not the best of energies.

Appreciation – on the other hand – aligns you with the Source within you. It’s a very different vibration.

Try it for yourself. Say the following, and feel the difference within you:

“I am so very grateful for __________________.”

“I have so much appreciation for ______________.”

Appreciation is a vibrational alignment with who I have become; It’s Me being in sync with the whole of who I am. Seeing what I am looking at through the eyes of Source.

You could walk down the street and other people see things to criticize.  But, when you are in a vibration of appreciation, you wouldn’t see them – because you are seeing as God sees. 

So, I invite you to start making lists of the positive aspects of the people and situations in your life– You might even give them or send them to the people you are writing about.

HT Webster, the newspaper cartoonist, amused himself one summer day by sending telegrams to twenty acquaintances selected at random; each message containing the one word, CONGRATULATIONS.   So far as he knew, not one of them had done anything in particular to be congratulated on:: But each took the message as a matter of course and wrote him a letter of thanks.  Everyone of them had done something that he himself regarded as clever and worthy of a congratulatory telegram.

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?  And why are you waiting?

Spend the next few weeks finding people and things to appreciate – Commit to Letting go of all complaints.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING – I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS WHATSOEVER.

Look for reasons to feel good.  Focus on your favorite things –

Look for the things you like and don’t give attention to anything else.

I think you’ll find that – IT’S TRULY –  A WONDERFUL WORLD.

Strangers in Good Company(Touchstone, 1991)

A group of long-lived women take shelter in an abandoned farmhouse when their tour bus breaks down. While they wait for other transportation, they share the stories of their lives with each other.

Strangers in Good Company(Touchstone, 1991)