What do you do better now, than you did when
you were 25?
A
question we got during our last held Expats Club meeting in relation to the
topic ‘Aging’.
A couple
of times already I shared my thoughts in a blog about my ideas about aging.
About what marketing makes use of to encourage us to buy products to let us
only believe (what a joke) we can stay forever young. And about getting younger
by the day.
In
relation to aging we first give attention to our physical body. A healthy diet,
fitness and yoga. More and more we start to understand, many times because of
influences of the East, our brain also has a lot to do with that. Meditation
and all kind of brain trainings can be a helping hand in keeping the mind
‘young’.
Living in
Asia for over six years now, more and more I feel connected and engaged with
this body and mind approach. To be honest, I follow my own diet including a
regular beer or wine to also enjoy my life during getting older (or younger by
the day as I once explained). The Burgundian pleasures of life I call it.
Trying to slow the aging process down, or to extend it, does not have to be a
kind of torturing yourself to live a ‘happy’ longer life isn’t it?
A recent study
of one of the universities in America showed actually, and it made me happy to
hear that results during our August 25th expats meeting, the very
best solution to slow the aging process down has to do with our thoughts.
Thoughts inspired by our soul and will. An even higher or, if you wish, deeper
dimension as also Shamanism shows.
So it is not
this healthy diet, not that fitness or yoga, that meditation and brain training
at the first place but the way we think about it and the willpower and
enthusiasm we have to live happy and long.
We need
to understand that the process of aging start already at birth. And this kind
of process is for every person the same. Step by step we are getting older and
run out of our time. Let’s face it.
Marketing
tells and shows us (photo shopping helps a lot) we can stay forever young.
Hello, wake up, as everybody knows it is not true. Watch yourself under the shower
;).
As a
child we want to be a grownup as soon as possible. As a grownup we long to our
childhood. Does it make any sense? Are
we ever satisfied?
During a group
dialogue I was in during our meeting one of the group members said: “At our age
we live our life backwards.” And I believe this is true. I can be grateful to
be able to live my life backwards. Being much more aware, let me call it
conscious, about the situation and the life I was in and am in.
Our
environment helps us to believe that our aging process has everything to do
with walking backwards step by step. It’s end of your time. Nothing to reach
any more. It is nearly done. Not really a happy time to face… Yes, as I said,
we run out of time. Totally true (for every one of us). And ask yourself what
do I want make of that period? Giving attention to what, most of the time
physically, you are not able to do any longer? Regrets about what you did not
do? No lust any longer? Complaining, as many people do, and thinking about “the
good old days? For me the days living now are really the good old days. And I
am thankful for that. Hope I can go on with it for a long time.
Thinking
about the question on top of this blog actually worked out to get a great
understanding of making steps forwards instead of backwards. Getting younger by
the day.
To give
you some examples of my answers on this question (be sure I can already write a
book about it).
# I
stopped to try to reach goals.
# I am
finished with my ideas about what other people maybe think of and about me.
# I
discovered I do not have to be anybody (ego) to still survive in the system.
# I
learned to breathe and stand still. Asking myself; “Is it worth to deal with,
worry about, or suffer about all I hear and see?”.
# I
appreciate nature as a life-mirror much more.
# I am
less dependent to my programming and what the system tries to let me believe as
‘the truth’.
# I do
not need newspapers, television or radio (the present social media I did not
have).
# I am
much more grateful.
# I live happier
and that’s success for me.
And
during the short time we got for answering this question every individual got
to express his or her first ideas I also mentioned. “What I absolutely still do
the same is to enjoy, listen and support the playful child in myself!”
And, in
my opinion, this ‘inner child’ being part of the Soul (in connection with the
Self and the inner wisdom) has everything to do, no is really the main thing,
to influence our thoughts. So also our thoughts about aging. Influencing in a
positive way the duration of the process.
Be and
stay optimistic and enthusiast (my father was totally right expressing already
this ideas in relation to positive thinking), be playful and humorous (my
mother was totally right as well) and stop being influenced by all the
judgments of your outside world and marketing.
Be the
playful person you want to be in the first place. Go for LIVING life and make
the best of it without complaining. Stop, or at least diminish your judging
(out of respect try to understand and learn about other persons programming and
thoughts). And yes, also exercises for the physical body and mind support in a
positive way. But our thought process is the main influence in slowing down our
aging process.
Over two
hundred expats joined this meeting and dialogue. Really all of them agreed they
live a much happier life now than at the age of 25 years young. They are also
more grateful now.
And yes,
this has also to do with the possibility (and the guts) this worldwide expats
generation I am part of got. Possibilities lot of people in the present
generations have even more I guess.
In the
first place set (or change) your thoughts. Focus them, out of your soul, on
enjoying the things that really matter in your life and let your thinking
process supporting soul free in still living your purpose. Like every other
person… you run out of time and finally have to leave everything…
Note:
Picture of my 93 year young dad many years ago and just before he died, in a
Dutch newspaper. Still sometimes acting as a massage therapist and yoga
instructor at that time for elderly.
Gangey Gruma (Frans Captijn)
Captijn Insight. Catalyst in developing tranquility & in-sight to get in a sustainable way real connection, purpose, pleasure and flow in life, love, family, business, career and work again.
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