“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Epictetus
I think one of the most surprising things about being eighty is how fast time goes. It seems like it was just the beginning of spring and now summer is about to begin. In talking with people who are my age we all have many things in common, but it is how we react to the changes in our lives that makes the difference. Being resilient and being able to come back from a challenge whether physical or emotional is important at any stage of life. Resilience is a word I think about often.
As we age, we often think about things differently than when we were younger. I remember feeling old when I turned thirty. My husband made me a beautiful wooden cane and said when you need this, then you will be old. Of course someone can need a cane at any age, for many reasons, but at thirty that is what we thought. I have been lucky enough to have only had to use a cane once. It was three years ago and my first time at a drag race and I did not want to miss a minute of the experience. For some reason, I woke up with a terrible backache. I did not want to miss the race, but I knew I could not walk around the pits all day without any assistance. So, I bought a sparkly blue cane and never missed a minute of all the excitement. And that is why resilience is so important not only when we are eighty but throughout life. It is how we adapt to the unexpected changes or challenges in our day or our life. It is how we grow and change, as necessary. We are all going to grow old if we are lucky. We are all going to have challenges no matter how we age. It is how we react to those challenges that makes the difference.
Think of a time when you were challenged by something unexpected. What was it? How did you manage it? Would you do anything differently? Were you resilient? Begin to acknowledge and celebrate the times that you were resilient during an unexpected predicament. It is important to see ourselves as people who age well, who can manage problems with certainty and determination so that we can enjoy life as we are meant to do!
As Joshua Marine said, “Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them are what makes life meaningful.”
When you share your gifts and talents with the world, magic happens. Let the magic begin!
Ginny
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