Cultivating compassion for YOUR aging

If I could make just ONE change in how my friends, pleasant acquaintances & utter strangers FEEL about aging, especially their own, it would be to nurture a sense of deep compassion around it.  Compassion, over the fear & judgment which is too often the reality.

That was the great quality my mother brought to her aging - a sense of personal compassion, tagged up with what is probably a prerequisite sense of good humor.  I cannot remember when Mom - who was 42 at my birth, so easily in her 50s when what she said first really registered - first referenced her "saggy baggy" body, always said with a genuine chortle & smile.  THAT's self-compassion!

Instilling that sort of self-compassion didn't begin in her 50s.  It started long before.  And it still amazes me that it was said in a self-deflecting, not a self-deprecating, way.  That's just as important, in my opinion.  

For that attitude - it is what it is - to come to our aid as we move into the upper register of aging, it has to be on our radar, in our life skills tool box, before we hit 60 or 70.  Ideally, before we hit 50.

 

Here's a priceless listen for everyone - especially all my friends, pleasant acquaintances & utter strangers in their 30s, 40s, 50s - looking to cultivating a sense of compassion for their aging loved ones & for themselves.  

Get a sip of whatever suits you, cozy on down in a comfy spot, and listen to Dan Gottlieb, Dayle Friedman & David Barile talk about how cultivating compassion for aging is a must-take step for a continued sense well-being & happiness (I would add JOY) with our self, with our older loved ones, with elderly clients.

(And speaking of Dan Gottlieb, here's a plug for Finding Hope in the Face of Things We Don't Talk About, a discussion sponsored by Bryn Athyn Church, Gloria Dei & The Growth Opportunity Center, on Saturday, April 2, at the Mitchell Performing Arts Center, 9-12:30 ~ on addiction, domestic violence, mental illness, suicide & trauma.  Dr. Gottlieb is the keynote speaker.)

 

cultivating compassion for aging–be it our aging selves or loved ones–leads to greater well-being and happiness. - See more at: http://whyy.org/cms/voicesinthefamily/#sthash.YFPdpmDi.dpuf