Savoring Sage Time

I don't grow old. I only feel and am seen as old if I stop growing and learning. The experience of "being old" depends on a state of mind. As Martin Buber said, "To be old is a glorious thing when one has not unlearned how to begin." It is in remembering how to begin again, being willing to be newer every day, that allows us to avoid getting stuck in a decade or a century of life. We no longer feel the need to convince others to go backward rather than forward. Sages know life is not about either/or choices. Wisdom knows how to think from a both/and view. So empowered we can bring forward into today the compassionate values of the past . When all we have to talk about is what has been and going "back to", we become less interesting to be with and, often, we are labeled as old. We lose the joy of the present moment that keeps us fully alive.

I am born a naked no one. Immediately I begin my journey of growing into some one special (ideally surrounded by loving adults who see in me all the beauty, intelligence, and talents that only eyes of love can see). At some point, when I have established an identity for myself, I am ready to journey on beyond that identity. My next task is to acknowledge that all around me are others who also have their own talents, intelligence and beauty, perhaps different than mine but of no less or more value. Then I will have grown into a level of security within myself that is independent of the judgments of others. I can settle into the comfort of being no one special again that allows me to feel connected to all. Now I am grown into the wisdom of being everyone. Though my body may age, my spirit will then feel the joy and freedom only a child can experience. I will have the eyes, ears, and will to see the world new every day. I will know the joy of living in the mystery of each unfolding day.