It was my birthday last year, and daddy asked me, ‘what age are you now?’ So, I didn’t say, ‘you should know!’ Instead I asked him ‘which age? My spiritual, Intellectual, emotional, physical one, or my experiences’ age?’ That gave me enough time to slip off as he was trying to figure out the complications of this question!
That’s what I mean.
We are not just our chronological age. We are so much more. It’s how we feel that really matters!
I’m telling you, we are so ‘media oriented’….. and looks oriented. – Hence all this depression and anxiety. Unrealistic expectations. Then we want ourselves to get highest degrees, fulltime career, get married, have several children, be perfect in looks, entertaining, career, and every imaginable skill. Then look twenty years old too!
Come on! Get real. Forgive yourself for being human.
Think about how you feel, which is the most important thing.
Honestly speaking, don’t you feel like sixteen? Ok, older, maybe twenty? Exactly. That is what I mean. I just treasure each year of life that my Maker has blessed me with. He had a choice, I could have been out of this ‘life’ game long ago. But He chose to bless me with it. Along with it, He chose to bless me with soooooooooooooooooooo many wonderful people and experiences.
Of course many bad things happened too.
My friend Seema called me during one of my bad patches, she said:
‘Pray to Allah that you realize why He put you through this particular hardship.’
‘Wow! What a thought’ I thought.
Imagine! Him making me go through something (really really bad,) just to teach me a particular ‘lesson’. As you have these army ‘exercise’. Through each experience, the officer learns skills that he never knew he had.
It is exactly the same with life, I guess.
Every time I’ve driven my Mum or Dad in unconscious state in panic to hospital, I’ve learnt something new.
Every time.
For instance I found out that Quaid-e-Azam Hospital in Rawalpindi has the best Emergency Department. we had to admit my dad in Air Force hospital for one whole day, and we learnt how to use the nebulizing machine, and got one too. So, now the process is done at home. Another time, my mother wasn’t well, and we found out a new nearby hospital which provided nursing help at home. I could go on and on.
It’s a mindset. Know, that you are about to learn something very important.
By the way, learning is so good for you and your brain.
There is a formula I follow in life; I ask myself, ‘how will I feel about this age after ten years?’ – Yes, you got the answer to that one! 😉
I read somewhere that one is happiest at seventy. Can you believe it? None of the apprehensions of how one’s job is going on, or one’s children’s career and so on. Everything is over and done with. Now, one is only to enjoy and relax. Just count the blessings one is surrounded with.
At retirement age, media makes you feel as if you are retiring from life too. Not at all. Now is the time to enjoy all the things one couldn’t, earlier. For instance, going out for walks on a lovely winter morning, otherwise, one would have to be in office. I remember when my dad retired from army, he and my mother kept spending every summer in the Northern areas. Something, he was previously too busy to enjoy.
Women are mostly maudlin; their children are growing up and flying away. Well, could you take care of them now? Could you? How many times does one have to rewind and replay one phase of one’s life? My dear it is vital to enjoy the present one. This too shall pass. So, stop looking towards your past or future. Just enjoy the present.
So:
- Count all the blessings of present phase of life.
- See what else you can do now, which you couldn’t do earlier.
- Find new hobbies, and activities.
- Meet new people.
- Read new books.
- Become tech savvy.
- Do social work.
- Have fun with friends.
- Begin a new hobby.
- Break all your own previous rules, (most of them don’t apply any more.) Start a fresh new life.
Naturally, by embracing all that we encounter in life, we can stay blessed! 🙂
