“Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health. Some men are born old and some never grow so.” Tyron Edwards
Fighting, seeking and working for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health offers us the best opportunity to experience happiness and realize heavenly rewards. To be healthy is a journey requiring great strength; for the passage is more like a serene countryside road often filled with potholes, detours, stops, starts and ever changing conditions. This journey will test our skills, perseverance and values.
To be healthy requires a conscious commitment to personal, family and community welfare. Andrew Weil M.D. speaks of the positive psychology of mindfulness; which is being attentive and focused on ourselves while recognizing how the outside world is affecting us. Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi the author of Flow, a national bestseller, discusses the importance of controlling our consciousness and thereby controlling the quality of the experience.
Being productive and feeling competent, having a sense of control over the outcome of one’s affairs and connecting with others in the environment is the foundation of all health and happiness. In the book True Competition the authors speak of what they believe is every person’s goal, that being to feel Competent in Life, In Control of One’s Affairs and Connected to Others. Possessing and acting on these characteristics makes us strong and forceful and is the mechanism by which we overcome emotional, mental, physical and social challenges.
As guardians of our culture it is essential that we battle to remove the impediments and barriers that may prevent us from realizing our sense of purpose, strength and ultimately our health. And, perhaps the colossal obstacle to our health and happiness is – We. “Changing the way we age,” is a new dynamic that is beginning to take hold across the land, and the International Council on Aging is spearheading the concept. Our society is rapidly aging. Therefore it is important for us to be mindful of how we take care of ourselves and it requires us to reconfigure our institutions (business, government and social) in order that these provide both the facilities and policies that encourage involvement by older adults. Opportunities for an aging population in the work force and in the pursuit of leisure activities need to be advanced. It is, in many ways a spiritual quest, wherein heavenly rewards await by connecting us with each other in the present as well as in the future.