Aging Gently

What is it that we fear most about aging?

For me it is the possibility that I might loose the ability to take care of myself and/or the fact that my mind could go before me. The other things in life such as beauty, machismo and the rest really don't enter into the equation.

If we live in accordance with the rules of nature such as eating properly, exercising and maintaining a healthy mental attitude through whatever floats your boat - yoga, meditation, prayer or chanting then there should be no problem. Our bodies are meant to house our chi for as much time as is needed to complete its cycle.

Of course genetics are a very important part of the equation, but substance abuse and stress can advance the process of aging and make it less graceful.

I'm not saying that everyone who does his or her best to maintain a healthy life will in fact achieve that goal. There are always a million variables that can set upon us without warning. But in the end we are at least partially responsible for our own actions.

The Budists believe that we are reincarnated over and over until we get it right. The Christians and Jews believe that we have one chance at it and are punished if we fail. Pagans worship the earth and sky gods and but still have fears of eternal punishment if not lived in accordance with the universal flow.

I have never been quite sure as to what it is that I should call myself. I was born and raised a Roman Catholic, then studied Judisim, Budism, Hinduism and several other religions. I guess I came to the understanding eventually that they were all preaching the same cermon but in different and ethnic ways. Agnostic seems to be the only term that captures my feeling on the subject but it is not exactly right either.

To see the universe at work in it's haphassard yet organised fashion is to marvel at life in general. It exists in the moment and resinates in the past but it creats it's own future as well. It is in fact infinte - without end or begining. I'm just glad to be apart of it at the moment.