Let’s Toast

June 24th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

On June 7, my son graduated from high school. Less than a month prior, his grandfather passed away on his 80^th birthday.

I was struck with two poignant lessons. First, life is full of transitions, such as graduations, marriages/divorces, and births as well as deaths. Second, there’s never a convenient time for death. These lessons are accompanied by enormous feelings that can overwhelm and engulf.

As a yoga teacher, I chose the path of consciousness; therefore, ideally, I meet everything in my life’s path head on without denial, distraction or ignorance. Even with this approach, the reality of my child growing up and leaving home is hard. It’s not so much the letting go of my baby as it is the realization that he’s growing into an adult and I’m growing older, and … I particularly find more empowerment in the “growing” part than in the “older” part. As I saw clearly in the way of things, old people die.

So … what is this business of growing older? Studies show that people view themselves 15 years younger than their true age. This suggests to me that while our physical bodies may be showing signs of aging, our awareness within ourselves is not determined by our physical age. I think this awareness speaks to the opportunity inherent in the word growing in the term “growing older.” Growing in this way encompasses words like wisdom and discernment and perhaps even compassion. A good friend of mine said compassion is “allowing people to move through spaces that you’ve already gone through.” And certainly, after having lived so many years, we all have been through many spaces! J

It’s at this transition time in my life that I see where I am consciously choosing to shift the way I relate to myself. Instead of thinking about myself so much as a body that needs to look good, I honor myself as the awareness inside of my physical body, in ways that offer unlimited growth and potential. At the same time I honor my body as it moves through its natural aging process and, in fact, work with it appropriately. By that I mean give it the increased exercise and nutrition needed to keep up with my commitment to participate fully in life.

Most people who know me see me as energetic, vital and healthy. They probably don’t know that I’m inquiring into such things as growing older. But the fact is, I’m 46, not 31 (that’s the 15 year variance) and in getting a grip on reality now, it assures a more powerful and healthier future down the line.

I just love looking at taboos … like death, aging, etc. I find great freedom in going directly into the heart of the matter of living. In doing so, I find an enormous amount of energy available. I suspect it takes a great deal of energy to deny, deflect and ignore basic human truths.

I’m certain that the last half of my life will be my finest.

For me it’s all very much like a good wine, where in the first half of life, the grapes have been planted, cared for, nurtured and harvested.

Then the second half heralds the opportunity of actually tasting what has been cultivated.

At this point there is a new dimension present in the wine process.

Once you drink the wine it is inside you, and you experience it with your whole being.

Let’s toast ….

Here’s to going into the heart of the matter and drinking in life to its fullest!!

PS   My daughter, Alyssa, said, after reading my blog, “Mom, I’m not waiting for the second half of my life to drink my cup!” …