Age Is A State Of Mind

How old are you?
By H. S. Fritsch

Age is a quality of mind.
If you have left your dreams behind,
If hope is cold,
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambitions' fires are dead---
Then you are old.
But if from life you take the best,
If in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly---
You are not old.

There have been many times when I have been downright shocked at the age a person gives me in comparison to their appearance. There have been some that I thought were young but there age was much older. There have been some I thought were older but there age was much younger. In most of these cases I have found a common thread. This common ground seems to be the perspective the person has on life.

It is an interesting concept that one's thoughts have such a dramatic impact on one's appearance, but there it is. I have been in the presence of some people who have such a zest for life. They simply glow with joy and their eyes twinkle when they smile. They always seem to make you feel important and seem to have a genuine interest in how you are doing. They include you in things and make you feel better just by being around them. These are the people who always seem to be much younger than their age.

The other group seems to never be satisfied with anything. They always seem to have something to complain about and nothing you do ever seem to be enough for them. They never seem to laugh or smile much and seem to take joy in others grief. You try to avoid them and when you can't you feel like a deer in the headlights. These are the people who always seem to be much older than their age.

This second group brings to mind the phrase "it's a hard knock life". But the deciding factor to whether life is hard or easy is a matter of attitude. The very thoughts you think determine your state of mind and it is this state of mind that will determine your appearance in life. Your appearance is your age, your relationships, etc. After all you can tell a lot about a person by the friends they keep.

It would be easy to say that the first group didn't have the kind of hardships the second group had but the thing is; we all have hardships. We all have something in our lives that is hard to bear. There is no one no matter what the appearance that doesn't have them. The difference is what you decide to think, feel, and believe about them. This is the deciding factor for happiness.

If you feel that you are not aging as well as you would like; maybe instead of reaching for a face cream or starting a diet, it's time to re-evaluate what kind of dialogue you are allowing to take place in your thoughts. Write your thoughts down and get a feel for your perspective on life. Don't edit your thoughts; just write so you can get a true understanding of the situation. Doing this will empower you to know what kind of action to take. Remember this isn't about judging yourself, this is just information so you can begin creating the kind of person you really want to be and live the life you dream of. Good luck and have fun with it.

Quotes to live by

"Prayer does on of two things: it either frees us from the trouble we fear or gives us strength and courage to meet the trouble when it comes." ~ Unknown author

Never trouble Trouble

Since sharing "The Calf-Path" with you I have been reading my poetry book and finding other poems that share great life lessons. I am going to include these in my weekly posts until I run out. I hope you find them as enlightening as I do.

Trouble
By David Keppel

Better never trouble Trouble
Until Trouble troubles you;
For you only make your trouble
Double-trouble when you do;
And the trouble--like a bubble--
That you're troubling about,
May be nothing but a cipher
With its rim rubbed out.

There is a song that was released about twelve years ago, it's called "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen." There is a line that I have always loved from it. Well, I love all of it but this one line really applies here. He says, "Don't worry about the future...or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind...the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday."

The fact is my mind seems to try and find anything and everything to worry about. When in reality it's rarely any of these worries that ever really come along but something I hadn't even been thinking of. Eckhart Tolle refers to this as the ego and that it is keeping you busy and distracted. If you really think about it, just how much time are you spending worrying over that which may never be? How much time and energy does that equate to? How much more effective could you be in your life working towards your goals if you focused that energy towards what you really want rather than what you want to avoid?

I don't know about you but I feel that worrying is an excuse; a means of distracting myself so that I don't get to work on the things that I really want. Because if I don't get working I can keep dreaming about it without the fear of failing hanging over me while pursuing it and possibly seeing myself fall short of reaching the dream after all of that work and effort. What I have come to realize is that sometimes that is going to happen but it's a blessing too. I learn something I didn't know before when I don't make the goal. It teaches me strength, endurance, get back up and try again. There are any number of things we can learn from our mistakes but we will not learn anything from not even trying.

I suggest we all take some time to ask some questions about our worries. And when we come to some answers either revealing them as time wasters or maybe even validating some of them, we need to forge ahead and move forward in spite of them. If you do find validation in your worries; see what you can do to resolve them or ease them but once you do move forward. Moving forward is the only way you will see the changes you want in your life and bring some peace to the worries plaguing you.

Quotes to live by

"(Life) is like a bank, the more you put into it, the more you have in it." ~ Unknown author

Face and Forgive Some Difficult Realities About Yourself

A few months back I watched a movie with Julia Roberts called "Eat Pray Love". It was a very good movie on perspective and choice. There are a few unnecessary scenes, thank goodness for fastforward. This movie was based off of a book written about the author Liz's life experience in trying to find answers about her life. There is a quote from the movie that really touched me that I want to share with you. This is Liz summing up what she believes she has learned from her journey.

"In the end, I've come to believe in something I call the physics of the quest. A force in nature governed by laws as real as the law of gravity. The rule of quest physics goes something like this. If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting; which can be anything from your house to bitter and old resentments, and set out on a truth seeking journey either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you except everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared most of all to face and fogive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be with held from you. I can't help but believe it given my experience." ~ Julia Roberts as Liz

The phrase "The truth will set you free" is real and it exists for a reason. The truth can and will set you free if you are but willing to face it and most importantly forgive it. How often are we desiring something; a change, healing, help, guidance, opportunities, strength, hope, inspiration, whatever in order to reach our goal or find a dream? How often is it just out of our reach or appears unattainable? The fact is that there is a road block in our way that hinders us from reaching what we seek. I believe that road block is often the truth. It is the truth that we do not wish to see, most often that truth is about ourselves.

I don't know about you but I have spent many years hiding from some truths about myself. I had a fear that if I faced them I wouldn't like the person they represent. I thought it meant I wasn't good enough or acceptable, etc. etc. There are any number of avenues we can go down about why we are afraid to face the truth about ourselves but I now believe that all of that fear is unwarranted and false. Facing the truth isn't about needing to judge and condemn ourselves for what we have done but rather as Liz says, it's about forgiveness. Facing the truth can hurt but if you are brave you will see that it is an opportunity for healing which can then open you to the ability to learn and grow from it. It is in this place of learning and growing that then provides you the very thing to help you reach that goal or dream that dream.

Fear is paralyzing and debilitating. It limits you and henders you in all possible ways. The truth is opposite to fear in every possible way. It is freeing and healing. It uplifts you and opens the doors to limitless possiblities. As scary as it may seem to allow the truth to surface in your life and stand toe to toe with it, facing some difficult realities about yourself is the very thing that will bring the peace and comfort you so desperately desire. It may be hard at first and feel like the most difficult thing you have ever done, but if you can bring yourself to do it, you will be free and you will move forward towards the life you want for yourself.

There are many voices in the world telling you what you can't do. Stop listening. Listen to your voice and know that you can. You can face the truth in your life and you can dream big and you can make it happen. Face the truth and forgive yourself so you can move forward being the best version of yourself that God intended.

The Path We Choose to Walk

This is a poem I love that I want to share with you. It is a little lengthy but the message is important. It gives a little perspective on choosing the path we choose to walk in life. Take a moment to read the poem and then answer this question. Why are you on the path you are currently walking?

The Calf-Path by Sam Walter Foss

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then two hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.

And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made;
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path.
But still they followed---do not laugh---
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked,
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare;
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed the zigzag calf about;
And o'er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach,
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah! many things this tale might teach---
But I am not ordained to preach.

So, why are you on the path you are currently walking? How long have you been walking it without being consciously aware of why you are on it? Stop and take a moment to ask yourself some questions. Why are you on this path? Are any of the answers you come up with a good enough reason to be on it? Does it serve in helping you reach the destination your heart truly desires? Are you here blindly following the path of another just because it is there? How long will you complain about the path you are on before you decide to forge ahead on a path of your own?

"If you don't make a choice, the choice makes you." ~ Ghost Rider (Nicholas Cage)

If you don't know the answers to why you are on your path, start finding them. Not making a choice is a choice. The path you are on is helping to create you and your life. If you're not happy maybe it's time for a new path. Start asking questions so you can find the answers. The more clear the questions the more clear your answers will be. Do not be afraid of the answers, they are only information to help you. So be brave and face them even if they aren't pretty. The reward will be worth it in the end.

Quotes to live by

"Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by this providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choice different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not." ~ Ben Franklin on the importance of perspective and choice

Quotes to live by

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strenthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." ~ Psalm 27:14