Aging Well Can Be a Matter of How We Color Our Clouds
Our mission is to go where no one else has gone before
Let’s get one thing straight.
AGING IS A GOOD THING.
The alternative is a very hot oven or a deep dirty hole!
And to answer the question on the tip of your tongue, “What in the heck do I know about aging?” Well, I’m about to tell you…
My credentials are 77 years spent as a student of life and 59 years (and counting) married to the love of my life.
I’m one of those people who chooses to live under a rose-tinted cloud. I say choose because life will make the opposite selection if you let it.
What do I mean by the phrase, rose-tined cloud?
To see the positive in things while being oblivious to the negative. Source
Notice that I said tinted, not colored. Keeping our cloud tinted, instead of heavily colored, gives us the ability to keep the negatives of reality in mind while not letting it dominate our perspective.
Look at the aging people around you. Don’t most of them seem to drag a dark, rain-soaking cloud with them at all times? Misery I Am and Woe Is Me define their life perspective.
What A WASTE OF TIME AND PRECIOUS RESOURCES!
It’s time to color our cloud
To go where no one has gone before!
Aging is a process common to most people. So why do I say it’s a personal journey where no one but you have gone before? Because you’re unique. Your life is different from any other life on this planet. And how you choose to live it is a path only you can travel.
It’s your life, so you can tint your clouds any color you choose. But choose carefully because the color of your clouds can and will affect your happiness, success, goals, relationships, and dreams.
How do I color my rose-tinted clouds?
You may be a natural at tinting your clouds or you may need a little help to mix the right shade of pink.
Let me give you some perspectives that create beautiful rose-tinted clouds in my life.
For sure, this may seem totally alien. So your first stroke of pink is to change the unrealistic, boring, and tedious task into your last, best adventure.
Aging May Be Your Sci-Fi Mission — To Go Where No One Has Gone Before
Color it pink
Cloud #1 — Physical health problems
It’s a fact. Aging comes with all sorts of physical health problems. We can’t avoid them, no matter how well we take care of ourselves. We will have far more doctors than we want and undergo more medical procedures than expected.
Tint it pink: I never thought I’d be increasing my vocabulary as I aged. Words like pulmonary embolism, chronic fatigue syndrome, and hypertension have slipped into my daily conversations. Now I can better understand the language my physician speaks.
Enduring through health problems has helped me to clarify my priorities. It’s amazing how much clearer one sees when faced with mortality. It’s not hard to choose between relationships and material possessions when nearing the end of one's life. Time suddenly becomes a treasure and happiness a way of life NOW and not an eventual destination.
Cloud #2 — Isolation or Alone Time
As we age, we inevitably lose family and friends due to distance or death. Our social connections dwindle, leading some to experience depression or feelings of isolation.
Tint it pink: I often thought when surrounded by my exuberant children and chatty co-workers that I couldn’t hear myself think.
Those people no longer fill my days. Children have grown up and co-workers disappeared when I retired.
Now, I have hours and hours to think. And I love this precious privilege. I can build worlds and create fascinating people as I write the fiction stories I love. I can research and meditate on new ideas. I can armchair travel to my heart's content.
I can also use my time to volunteer for important causes that I’m passionate about.
Really, aloneness opens a door to a whole new life adventure if we just step over the threshold!
Takeaway
Those are just two ways I choose to tint my clouds pink. We all have the same opportunity to choose our cloud color. If we have our minds, we have the power to rethink, adjust, and go where no one else has gone before.
So get out your crayons and start coloring!
