Growing older gracefully - The benefits of growing older
Articles about growing older gracefully appear every Thursday on davidgmarkham.substack.com and sometimes more often.
In a youth idolizing society, the benefits of growing older are often not recognized, acknowledged, and celebrated. So here is a list of some benefits of older age.
Growing up - There is a difference between growing old and growing up. All things grow old, but they do not necessarily grow up. What is growing up? It’s actualizing the potential, the innate essence of the thing. It is blossoming and coming into one’s own. Growing older gracefully involves growing up, realizing one’s potential.
Wisdom - Wisdom is different from knowledge. Wisdom comes from experience. The bumper sticker says, “Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” Older folks often have earned their Ph.D. from the University of Hard Knocks
Compassion - With hard knocks some people become negative and bitter while others become more empathetic and compassionate. “Been there and done that.” In this compassion there is much peace and less fear. Some might call this “love.”
Peace of mind - The pressures and stress of earlier life circumstances have been set aside, and living up to the expectations and requirements of others to prove oneself is no longer necessary and desirable. The person is freer to live for oneself and not for the appeasement of others.
Gratitude for life now - There is less striving and working for the future because the future is limited. Taking each day for the gift it is instead of living for tomorrow is a relief.
Are there other benefits of growing up? What makes life in the last days peaceful and joyful?