The 10 Timeless Joys of Aging

A guest post by Christopher Foster of The Happy Seeker

My dad, who was 95 when he died, liked to say you could put his medical history on the back of a postage stamp. After my Mom died, Dad sold their house in Pevensey Bay, on the Sussex coast in England, and moved to a small ground-floor flat right across the road from his favorite pub, the Castle.

It was a very smart move, of course. Dad had been a reporter all his life and loved the bracing effects of British beer – its medicinal value, as he liked to put it — plus interacting with people. He was famous for his one-liners, and liked to say he had “a joke for every occasion.”

As the years went by, however, and Dad began walking more slowly, crossing the road to go to the Castle or the library or other places was an increasing challenge because he tended to hold up traffic.

However, he came up with a strategy to deal with the situation. He realized that cars stopped every time a train crossed the road a mile or so away — and learned to cross the road at these times when the traffic was lighter.

I’m 78, just a youngster. But if I can meet the challenges of aging with the same grace and courage my father revealed, I’ll be doing very well.

The paradox of aging

Of course, there is more to aging — much, much more — than merely meeting the challenges that life inevitably brings as we get older.

Watching our own body — or the body of a loved one — deteriorate with age can be excruciating, of course. But there is a paradox here. Because as our physical body slows down, there is an opportunity to connect more deeply with the truth at the core of our being that is the very source of lasting happiness and peace.

10 timeless joys of aging

1. Deepen your connection with your own Being

You may have been working on this connection all your life. Or perhaps it is a fairly new idea for you. In any case, the primary blessing of old age, as far as I’m concerned, is the opportunity to be still, and in that stillness, become more and more conscious of the timeless happiness and freedom of my own being.

2. Realize your oneness with all creation

With luck, there is time and space in our latter years to develop a deeper awareness of and appreciation for our oneness with all creation. My own “instructor” in this process, by the way, is a large blue spruce tree that grows outside the front door of our town home in Denver (and a bunny that lives underneath this tree).

3.  See the light in all people

When our lives are packed full with activity, goals, with the constant demands of work, raising children, and so on, it’s all too easy to overlook one of life’s most simple truths. Regardless of a person’s place in the scheme of things, regardless of their color, status, religion, and so on, there is one light in us all — and its name is Love.

Looking for that light in others — wherever it may be, in the supermarket or coffee shop or anywhere else — is one of the joys of getting older.

4.  Bless and encourage others

Holding an attitude of blessing, love, and support for others — and expressing it in tangible form when possible — has a profound effect, and also nourishes our own well-being.

5.  Peel away all pretense

One of the greatest blessings of old age may be the opportunity to experience our own genuineness more fully and deeply than ever before. What do we have to lose?

Any artificial constructs or self-images we may have developed over the years are going to disappear anyway before too long. We have a golden opportunity to let any remaining pretense be peeled away right now, so that the unique, divine masterpiece we truly can shine through with increasing clarity.

6. Love your body more fully

One of the trials of aging is seeing and experiencing the inevitable decline of our own physical body. It has been so faithful over the years, doing its very best at all times to make it possible for us to give our gift and play our part in this world.

But there’s another paradox here. Even as we see our body aging and weakening, our love and appreciation for this beautiful physical body that has been our friend for so long can increase exponentially.

Loving your pet is one thing, and it is good. But loving your own body as it ages or weakens — that opens up a potential of communion and joy we may never have known before.

7. Savor the moment

“A poor life this, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare,” said the British poet, William Henry Davies. With the gift of age, we have the opportunity to become more and more aware of the wonder and magic present in any moment — even the most humble moment.

Accepting a cup of coffee from the server in a coffee shop is an act of grace. Taking time to admire a tree or flower is an act of grace.

We also have the extraordinary privilege and opportunity of savoring what is always here with us in any moment — the stillness and peace of our own eternal being.

8. Dare to think of immortality

We are used to thinking about mortality, particularly as the years pass by. “Death and taxes are the two sure things,” we like to say. But there is a remarkable opportunity, as we age, to open our minds and hearts to the unthinkable possibility that although our bodies are mortal, who we truly are is immortal.

Who you are at the core of your being is not born and does not die. With the gift of age, we have the opportunity, if we so desire, to become more aware of the immortality of our own being.

I find that when I let go of thought for a few moments, and become truly still, it is very easy and natural to think the “unthinkable” – that is to say, to feel what cannot be thought, or understood, but can definitely be felt in our heart.

9. Dare to be fit

It’s wonderful to see older people exercising and staying active. My dad used to swim in the cold water at Pevensey Bay, in Sussex, until it got too difficult for him to climb up and down the stony beach, and he switched to an indoor pool.

I’ve been going to a gym for about nine years. It has helped me through some rough patches in my life. I do resistance training, which I especially enjoy, and some of the cardio stuff, although when it comes to that side of things I prefer a good old-fashioned walk if possible.

The gym is a highlight of my day. I think of it as my “strength room,” and I have to tell you something. Another paradox. Even though I’m getting older, I’m lifting more than I have ever lifted before.

Going to the gym not only makes me feel stronger physically, it also makes me feel stronger mentally and emotionally. I also do a little Chi Kung every now and again with the help of a beautiful book called The Way of Energy, by Master Lam Kam Chuen.

10. Communing with Angels

This last entry may be a bit controversial, but I’m not trying to be controversial, I just want to share my own experience.

A few years ago, I was sitting in a hospital waiting for some minor surgery when suddenly I began to feel a warm, enfolding presence. It was not the presence of a living person, but a living spirit — the spirit of my first wife, Joy, who died suddenly of a stroke in 1991.

There is only one spirit, one whole, one truth, and it is timeless. Feeling Joy’s warm, enfolding presence for a few minutes in the hospital was a beautiful experience. By the time the nurse came out and invited me into the operating area I was walking on air.

Along this line, I find my sense of connection with my Dad is stronger now than it ever was when he was alive in human form. For me, the opportunity to be conscious of the presence of departed loved ones is also one of the true joys and comforts of growing old.

As Shakespeare wrote long ago: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Christopher Foster is an author and spiritual coach. He writes about happiness and inner peace at his blog, The Happy Seeker.Please check out his free Ebook: The Wisdom of Serenity.

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