Why is it that when we are at the end of
our life we regret what we didn’t do?
Couldn’t we try instead to appreciate what we did do. Abundance and
gratitude are sisters. One is possible through the other. Studies have been
done on happiness and aging. Apparently we, as a population, are happiest in
our sixties and seventies. Why? Time changes as we age. We all know that time
is slower when we are young and faster as we age, which is likely due to the
fact that we have so many more memories to compare time to. So while we have
more time when we are younger it’s full of anxiety. As we grow older we can let
go of the worry about the future, in part because there is less of it to worry
about. Our time is less but more
abundant in quality. When people are asked about meeting new people when they
are young the answer is often “sure, why not?” because there is plenty of time
to try that out. But as we age we don’t really have time for that. We want to
develop and cherish the relationships we have. These are the deeper wells of
our humanity from which we draw our living water.
Once we realize that all of us – all of
us – are blessed with this divine abundance, this essential wholeness, than the
sooner we can get on with the task of living lives that are integrated with our
hopes and aspirations. Let me give you an example. I used to be a real penny
pincher. I could make the Indian ride the back of the Buffalo. I would never
give money to a panhandler. Until I met a messenger. A panhandler I passed on the street who when
I ignored him and walked on by said to me, ‘bless you anyway sir’. I turned
around and saw a young man, a man my age at the time, and something went click;
a moment of grace. “There but for the grace of God go I.” I realized our
essential interconnection and I reached into my pocket and gave him all the
money I had. Becoming whole will cost you. And it might just help you observe
the abundance of love that resides in your own heart.
With Grace and Grit, John
