Bee Gees are inspiration for waning years philosophy: 'Stay alive while you are alive!'
I have often quoted Topeka’s own Father Richard Rohr, author of 127 books and my favorite, "Falling Upwards, Spirituality for the Second Half of Life."
He is my favorite spiritual guide, although I have never met him. His most recent writings address the issues of aging, and my favorite quote has always been, “Aging is enlightenment at gunpoint.”
Just as we might surrender ourselves to someone holding us at gunpoint, life demands the last word, which is death.
Now don’t get depressed or angry about this topic. I think it is important to address the surrender to the end of our journey on earth so that we can live life to its fullest while we are here. Inspired by the Bee Gee’s song "Stayin’ Alive," my husband says, “Stay alive while you are alive!” He is such a philosopher!
Unless we are liberated from our ego and our fears about getting old, we are not free to live life to its fullest.
The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Dr. Bob and Bill W., discovered that step No. 1 to recovery and freedom is admitting we are powerless. What a simple but profound truth. We are powerless when it comes to aging. It makes no difference how many marathons you run; the only people who do not suffer from this are already gone.
We can ignore it, resist and fight it, but it is our destiny, and we share it with every living thing on the planet.
I think that all of this resonates if you have pursued a spiritual path during your lifetime and, if not, maybe it is time to start that path — it is never too late. Because life only makes sense if there is another chapter at the end.
The Rev. Billy Graham said, “When you're prepared to die, you're also prepared to live.”
“Death is not an outrage,” said Ram Dass, an American spiritual teacher, psychologist and writer.
Montaigne, a renowned French Renaissance philosopher, said, “Premeditation of death is premeditation of freedom.”
We go about our daily lives thinking we’ll live forever — it is our defense mechanism. But as we grow old, we are faced with the fact that we have limited time. It is just a fact; we are at gunpoint, as Rohr describes. So, acceptance and surrender become our friends and, when we do that, fear has no place to reside.
I’m not saying it doesn’t raise its ugly head on occasion.
Even if you do not believe in another chapter after this life, it makes more sense to surrender to this powerlessness and quit fighting it. Fear is a tragic way to spend our last years. Even in my years working in hospice, we knew that hospice was not about dying; it was about living to the fullest until the end.
And many of those beautiful people I met in hospice were some of the most liberated of all. It seemed all they cared about was love and forgiveness.
What a great note to end on.
Find Connie’s book, “Daily Cures: Wisdom for Healthy Aging,” at www.justnowoldenough.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lower defenses and recognize we have limited time in life — so live it
