Monday, February 6, 2017

Aging & attitude

Last Friday we discussed the quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption on whether to get busy living or busy dying. In the last couple days, I went back to a book I really love about aging well. Written by Joan Chittister, it's called The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully.

Underscoring what the movie line said, Chittister writes, "It is unnecessary to consider ourselves useless—unless we choose to be useless. It is unnecessary to think of ourselves as diminished—unless we allow ourselves to diminish in heart and mind.

"The point is that there are two approaches to aging: passive aging and active aging. Passive aging gives way to the creeping paralysis of the soul that goes with the natural changes of the body. ... Active aging cooperates with the physical effects of age by adjusting to a change of pace. ... Active aging requires us to go on living life to the full no matter how differently."

Again, we have a choice. We can get busy living or get busy dying. Our attitude toward aging makes all the difference.







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