Yogis,
There are many myths and stereotypes on aging out there. Our culture doesn’t
hold the same honor and respect for elders shown in many other countries. Older
years are often viewed here as something to dread. A lessening of the good things
in life. A decline. Even more so for women.
Not all see it this way though. I have decided I am going to incorporate
Diane von Furstenberg’s perspective into my own life.
Diane is the clothes designer who shook up the women’s
clothing world in 1976 with her introduction of the wrap dress. Now at 76 she
says she is entering her winter, but boy is she doing it with class and beliefs
that turn our outdated and superficial view of aging right on its head.
Because we are not 'aging'. We are living.
Whether you are thirty, sixty or eighty-nine, if you pause
to see what you are doing at this moment, you are living. Breathing, feeling,
smelling, seeing…….. Life is here for you at every moment without regard for age, so
live each one to the fullest!
My face carries all of my memories. Why would I erase them?
~ Diane von Furstenberg
Another phenomenon we experience is not feeling the age we
are turning. My mom and I have talked about this often, including last
week. After some thought I told her I felt 50 even though it says sixty-one
on my driver’s license. Now I am rethinking that. Society has given us beliefs
of what fifty feels like. What 80 feels like. But that’s nonsense!
Am I willing to exclude the wisdom I have accumulated,
things I have learned and joys I have felt over these past eleven years from my
life? When Diane is asked, she says she could be 300 for how full her life has
been. Yes!
When I see you next, I won’t ask how old you are. I will ask how many years you have lived, and I will be awed.
Living......not aging,
SARAH
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