This book, about "THE LIFELONG JOURNEY TOWARD MEANING AND JOY" is also a book about AGING. But, it's really more about developing an AGELESS SOUL throughout your lifetime.
What a terrific book to read when you reach your 50/60/70/80/'s. Then again, it's a terrific book to read at a YOUNGER AGE if you have PARENTS, SIBLINGS, GRANDPARENTS, AUNTS, UNCLES or FRIENDS who are OLDER, who you care about deeply and if you want to know more about what they may be experiencing. Even someone in their 60's (as am I) can learn about what an OLDER LOVED ONE may be thinking, wondering/worrying about. AND it's a terrific book to read if you're YOUNG, but know you are AN OLD SOUL who is still evolving.......
Yes, as my friend LISA says, "This book is heavy, deep and real."
THOMAS MOORE shares his observations from years as a practicing psychotherapist and from years of his own personal life journey. He gives the reader a lot to CONTEMPLATE. I really took my time reading it, to SAVOR it, to MULL IT OVER, to think about and INTERNALIZE each topic that he discussed.
If you are living a RICH, SOULFUL LIFE, I feel certain you will find meaning in this book. If you aren't, PERHAPS you will find helpful suggestions to ENRICH your life and/or to understand better and EMPATHIZE with your OLDER LOVED ONES.
There are SO many passages that I feel compelled to share with you. Forgive me for the length of this Blog post, but to me, each passage is THOUGHT-PROVOKING and worth taking a moment (or twenty) to PONDER. Don't rush..... you too can SAVOR. And then perhaps you'll feel inspired to pick up the book and read it all.
Page 33
......age may have less to do with how many years a person has been alive and more to do with how that person lives.
Page 35
You keep your heart active by loving the world rather than hating it.
Page 73
I feel the melancholy of age almost every day. I wish I could live forever. I don't like the idea of death at all. It forces me to accommodate it in some way, and I don't like that. Life can be difficult, but it's beautiful. What's the alternative, anyway? To make it even more frustrating, we don't know anything about death.
Page 80
Aging takes you away from an active life to one that is more contemplative and expressive. Melancholy is not just sadness; it contains some of the quiet and contemplative qualities that can be useful or may actually be needed.
Page 93
As you get older, your life becomes more active than ever in certain ways, and aging means an increase of vitality, not a decrease. But this works best when the inner life has a base and can become more important as the years go by.
Page 97
Aging with soul is the process of becoming a full, rich, and interesting person. It happens over time and requires your active participation. It isn't automatic.
Page 120
We tend to think of illness as a physical breakdown in need of repair. But as an experience - emotional, intellectual, and relational - illness may force us to examine our lives, face our mortality, and sort out our values.
Page 129
Deep relaxation is one of the healthiest things you can do. I'm not talking about avoiding your problems but about living generally in a relaxed manner. Today many people are frantic most of the time while trying to keep up with their busy lives. You can be active without giving up periods of relaxation. Find resources that work for you, even if they wouldn't relax someone else.
......I'm asking you to take relaxation seriously and go further with it than you normally think is reasonable.
Page 132
You have to be proactive with your illness and its treatment. The medical establishment would like you to be compliant, do what it says, accept its pronouncements meekly. But it's your life and your sickness. You have to bring to the discussion your own insights and understanding. You might question taking so many drugs. Are they all necessary? Are they standardized and not suited to your situation? Do any of them affect you so badly that they are not worth the suffering?
Page 159
"Retired" doesn't really mean retired; in many cases it means liberated, free to pursue activities that were out of reach when a career was dominating life.
Page 161
The post-career years are a time for new discoveries and old resolutions. They are free time, when you have nothing to accomplish and everything to experience and express.
Page 164
In your older years nature slows you down, and I like the idea of doing that slow dance with nature, taking my cue from a less agile body.
Page 177
You can only look younger by first being the age you are. Then you can make efforts to call back the youthfulness you love. Denial of your age doesn't make you young.
Page 182
Cultivate your power to inspire. The word inspire means "to breathe into," so when you inspire you breathe into another person a reason to work hard and be creative and engage the world meaningfully.
Page 215
The best way to deal with loneliness is to pursue vitality even in small things. This means keeping alive your curiosity, wonder, spirit of adventure, love of learning, creative character, interest in people, eccentricity, and contemplative lifestyle. You can do these things even with diminished capacity.
Page 228
Acknowledging another person's success is just part of being a friend. Whenever you feel that words of praise are not necessary, you should offer them anyway. If there is one universal rule about human psychology, it is that people always need and appreciate recognition. The need is beyond emotion. It has to do with the foundation of the self. When you are appreciated, your very grounding as a person becomes more stable.
Page 241
The older you get, the less you may be preoccupied with the things of the world. You become reflective and closer to wonder. You're not focused as much on making a self, creating a career, or becoming somebody. You are naturally open to a spiritual life and to questions of meaning and purpose. Of course, this is not true of everyone. You have to have thought about your life for a long while to develop a strong spirituality in old age. You have to have aged spiritually.
Page 245
...... Liz Thomas said to me, "I don't believe in an afterlife. I'll die and be part of the atoms and molecules of the cosmos." She looked happy when she said this. But I was thinking, "I prefer to leave the matter unsettled. I like to preserve the unknown. I want to cherish my ignorance and make no pronouncements about what happens, if anything, after death."
Page 246
"God" is a motivating word, not a goal, not a thing, not even a fixed reality. God is real, though you don't have to use the word, insofar as God is an image for expansion of mind and heart without limit.
Page 247
Spirituality is dynamic and existential, meaning that it's not just an idea, but a process. Therefore, as an older person you are an expanded version of the self you used to be. Spirituality in this sense is not about belief but about who you are and how you live. If you're becoming more a part of the greater world and larger life, then your spirituality is alive. This means constant change and unfolding. An unending process in which the self evolves.
Page 270
Therefore, if you're interested in aging with soul, you don't read just practical and technical books, you read the humanities, fiction, and nonfiction that raises and deepens your thoughts. Good literature can be part of a spiritual practice. Too often we put unnecessary boundaries around what we consider sacred.
My hope is that you feel inspired to read this POWERFUL, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, SPIRITUAL book and that as a result, you will find additional understanding and meaning in your life to more deeply ENJOY the JOURNEY of aging.
JOAN
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