The Beauty of Old Age: A “Higher” Perspective
By Charles G. Hanna
Most people grasp how crucial it is for children to not miss out on their childhood, but we often forget that it is equally crucial to not miss out on all of life, be it adolescence, middle age, old age, single life, married life, parenthood, or any other phase. Every stage is an incredible gift that must not be wasted or compromised in any way.
Whether you believe we live one or many lives, it always starts with birth and infancy, then childhood and so forth. If we are lucky we live a long life, but it is not always possible. In fact, the older we get the lower is the probability of our survival. This means that old age is a very rare occurrence whether we live one life or many. If we live one life we may never see it, or only a few select will. If we live many lives, as I happen to believe that we do, we will see ripe old age in far fewer times than childhood, which is the most abundant life phase. That makes old age very special indeed but sadly most of us are too busy fearing getting old that we miss that most beautiful phase of our lives.
Sure, old age has its disadvantages, but every age has its advantages and disadvantages. That is why it behooves us to not enjoy every one of them for what they are. The only thing we can do to ensure the maximum fulfillment is to follow our Higher Purpose of taking good care of ourselves – body, mind and spirit.
The other day I was watching a movie about a little boy of about 10 years of age who escaped from a very oppressive boarding school where his father had left him. The boy was rejected and abandoned by his father because he was different. The boy was impressionable and needed guidance so he went searching for his estranged grandfather who had heard been yearning to find him. They finally connected, and in this charming scene the grandfather was explaining to the boy the great legacy of their family and the magic of being who they are. wealth of knowledge and resources of the grandfather were the central issue and most valuable and beautiful gift he could give to that child. I was overcome with the feeling and vision that it is the grandfather who had the power to could make that experience as beautiful as possible for the child, and it made me see the incredible beauty of that phase in our lives.
I find myself realizing the incredible gift of being able to give guidance and inspiration and magical imagination to young budding minds. It is most ideally suited for the latter stages of our lives, if we live long enough and are healthy and happy and rich with spirit and knowledge and resources to give meaningfully to the younger generations. In other words, by becoming the best we can be, we will automatically become most valued givers.
I found myself is awe as I watched the beauty and purity of this old man providing inspiration and guidance to that little boy. I had watched similar scenes many times before and I always identified with the little boy and wondered what it would be like to be empowered like that. This time it was different.
I could not help but think that the beauty of this nurturing was largely dependent on the old man, his grandfather. The kindness and wealth of knowledge and resources of the grandfather were the central issue and most valuable and beautiful gift he could give to that child. I was overcome with the feeling and vision that it is the grandfather who had the power to could make that experience as beautiful as possible for the child, and it made me see the incredible beauty of that phase in our lives.
I find myself realizing the incredible gift of being able to give guidance and inspiration and magical imagination to young budding minds. It is most ideally suited for the latter stages of our lives, if we live long enough and are healthy and happy and rich with spirit and knowledge and resources to give meaningfully to the younger generations. In other words, by becoming the best we can be, we will automatically become most valued givers.
This is the first time I ever saw and felt the real beauty of old age to the point of appreciating for the unique and priceless gift that it is. This is the result of having a “Higher” perspective and living in the moment – the serenity of loving every phase of our lives as it comes. I am not living there but I feel serenity and joy knowing that good things are coming as far as I can see.
About the author:
Charles G. Hanna is the author of Higher: Awaken to a More Fulfilling Life and Chairman, CEO, and founder of a third-party technology provider. A devoted father of three children, he is involved with a range of charities, including organizations that help with cancer treatment, artists, and displaced and handicapped people and contributes his personal time in various ways to youth shelter homes and animal shelter groups. Connect with Charles on www.charleshannahigher.com and on Twitter, @hanna_higher.
What Is Your IGS?
An Excerpt from Your Inner GPS by Zen Cryar DeBrücke
You were born with a factory-installed guidance system. It is like the GPS in a car. This system is called your Internal Guidance System, or IGS.
The guidance it gives you has many different purposes. The most important one is to get you from one end of your life to the other with as much joy, ease, and fulfillment as possible. Throughout the book, I will reveal other parts of its purpose in guiding you. For now it is important for you to recognize that it knows and deeply understands everything you desire to achieve, as well as countless things you have yet to even think of. It also knows specifically how you would most like for your desires to be achieved. Its purpose is to guide you to the specific way of going about your life that will make you, and everyone around you, the happiest.
The reason its guidance is unique and special is because it was designed just for you and your life purposes. What I have discovered is that we have not just one life purpose but several, if not hundreds of them: to be a good parent, to support particular people in our lives, to be a good child, to care for aging parents, to transform the world around us in either little or big ways. Your life purposes can range from something as simple as giving the perfect book to someone at just the right time, to transforming the industry you work in, to giving your child the start in life they need to accomplish their own life’s purposes.
There are also things in your life that are not yours to do, and your IGS will guide you away from them so you don’t waste your life force or use it unsuccessfully. As a group these purposes can feel overwhelming, but with your IGS it is not only possible but also easy and enjoyable to do it all.
This inner GPS contains your life’s specific road map, which shows on a soul level all the things you are here to participate in, experience, and achieve. Your GPS is with you every moment of every day, constantly there to support you — to give you guidance about what you are thinking and doing and how you are being. This can sound a bit scary or uncomfortable, until you realize that it has no judgment on any of these aspects. It does not think of you as good or bad. It relates to you as a soul that it is here to guide and protect. It knows who you really are deep down inside. It knows the “pre-you,” the one who preceded who you are now. One of its purposes is to help you uncover and remember who you really are — the “you” who existed before life took over and covered up your perfection and beauty. It has only unconditional love for you and the journey you are on.
Your IGS is very much like a wise best friend, a career counselor, a life coach, and a spiritual teacher all rolled into one. In fact, it is so amazing and interesting that I had to write an entire book to introduce you to it.
How Your IGS Works
our IGS provides guidance by giving you sensations in your body. It resides in the area between your throat and solar plexus. The solar plexus is the triangular area between your lower ribs, above your stomach. The sensations that you feel in this area of your body are forms of guidance.
As you are thinking, your IGS is listening and sending a physical signal letting you know whether your thoughts are true, aligned with your purpose, and taking you toward health and happiness.
Your IGS creates what I like to call an urging feeling. It nudges you to move toward various activities in the world around you. It feels like a desire upwelling inside you. For an example, think of the last time you had an urge to call a friend or family member. When you followed that urge, did they respond with “I was just thinking of you!” or possibly “I really needed to talk to you. How did you know?” That urge was from your IGS.
Your IGS provides you with information that supports you as you: respond to your life as it develops instead of reacting to it according to false scenarios, old habits, or unconscious beliefs; and learn to focus on your desires instead of fears.
By learning to follow your IGS, you will find that your life seems to work out, that it is somehow just right in the way it unfolds, and that you become a magnet for what many consider small and large miracles.
About the author:
Zen Cryar DeBrücke is the author of Your Inner GPS. She is an internationally renowned teacher, speaker, and coach whose programs have helped people all over the world transform their personal and business lives for the better. Visit her online at http://www.zeninamoment.com.
Excerpted from the book Your Inner GPS Follow Your Internal Guidance to Optimal Health, Happiness, and Satisfaction. Copyright © 2016 by Zen Cryar DeBrücke. Reprinted with permission from New World Library. www.newworldlibrary.com
Fully Alive: Seeing Life in High Definition
by Cara Bradley
As a fiercely independent child, I didn’t take orders well, resisted advice, and insisted on doing everything on my own. I needed to directly experience everything myself — and not because I delighted in being stubborn, but because I craved sharp and vivid sensory experiences.
I have to admit that, as an adult, I haven’t changed much. When I listen to music I like to close my eyes to really hear it. When I hug my daughters, I want to feel the hug. When I’m chopping garlic for fresh tomato sauce, I want to smell the garlic. I’ve realized that the reason I feel the need to thoroughly see, hear, taste, smell, and touch everything is quite simple: When I directly experience moments with all of my senses, I feel fully alive.
Being fully alive feels like seeing the world in high definition. It makes everything taste, feel, look, smell, and sound more vivid and intense. Experiences go from black and white or analog to technicolor.
What Does High Definition Feel Like?
Dull or muted moments are transformed into high definition when you show up in this exact moment without expectation, judgment, or drama. When you get out of your own way, let go of trying, and allow yourself to simply be, life feels crisp and clear. Be here now and your senses will light up. Shazaam! You will feel a spark of energy, a shiver, or a pulsing aliveness that will turn you on and wake you up to the vividness of the world around you.
High-definition moments are free of charge and available to most of us every day. You don’t have to wait until the next time you are at the beach, on a mountaintop, or even in the middle of a crisis to feel your senses heightened. Believe it or not, high- definition moments are continuously available, even during mundane activities. Next time you’re eating, ask yourself what you taste and smell. When you’re walking, pause and notice the trees. When your driving, brushing your teeth, or in your spin class, pause and recognize what you notice. Tune in to the moment with all of your senses and you will encounter the variety of shades, sounds, smells, tastes, and feel of a high-definition moment.
Recognize. Recognize. Recognize.
To strengthen your ability to see life in high definition in ordinary moments, start to recognize when you feel clear, bright, alert, sharp, strong, vibrant, fearless, excited, empowered, or courageous. To recognize these moments, you’ll need to be present for them. If you’re thinking about the past or future or daydreaming about your next vacation, you will miss the chance. Right here, in this moment, you have the opportunity to participate in reading these words, to feel the couch beneath you, or the sun on your face.
To experience more of your life in high definition, incorporate this simple practice into your day:
Stop. Take Five. Experience.
1. Set your timer for 2 minutes. Close your eyes.
2. Pay attention to your breathing by counting five full breaths. It helps to think, “Inhale, exhale one. Inhale, exhale two,” and so on. Listening to the sound of your breath will almost immediately relax you and begin to settle your busy mind.
3. After five breaths, open your eyes and sit quietly.
4. Now, with your mind calm and body still, slowly look around and actively notice your surroundings. What do you see, smell, hear, taste, or touch? Do you feel dull or awake? Are you tired or energized? If your mind is very busy thinking, that’s okay too. Whatever you notice is perfect.
Pausing in this way is the first step to connecting with your body and waking up to your naturally high-definition life.
What Were Your High-Definition Moments Today?
You have had your own high-definition moments, I’m sure of it. Can you think of a few? Perhaps it was the intense emotional high you experienced when you got married or the profound disappointment you felt when you didn’t get the job your heart was set on. Sometimes high-definition moments are easy to identify, and sometimes they’re not as clearly defined.
Try this simple exercise to recount moments during your day when the world became vivid or you felt a surge of energy:
Recall Your High Definition Moments
Before you go to sleep tonight, recall three times you felt touched by life. Perhaps it was seeing the sun hit the top of the trees in the late afternoon or hearing the giggles of the neighbor’s kids in the backyard. Maybe you listened to a friend in need or belted out a song during your commute home. List these moments in a journal or simply in your mind. Do this exercise regularly and you’ll soon recognize high-definition moments all the time.
High-definition experiences are available to you right here in this moment. It’s a matter of first recognizing them and then pausing to fully experience them. In other words, stop and smell the roses, taste the apple, watch the sunset. High-definition moments will recharge you in powerfully moving ways and light you up from the inside out. Don’t try to do anything special. In fact, don’t do anything at all. Simply stop, pause, and experience the brilliance of being fully alive.
About the author:
Cara Bradley is the author of On the Verge. She is a passionate teacher of yoga, meditation, and fitness who has been in the trenches of personal transformation as a “mental strength coach” for over three decades at her Verge Yoga Center, retreats, corporate training sessions, and with teams such as Villanova University football and Penn State men’s basketball. She lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Visit her online at www.carabradley.net.
Based on the book On the Verge. Copyright © 2016 by Cara Bradley. Reprinted with permission from New World Library. www.newworldlibrary.com
It is time to “Spring Clean” your mind
Now that Spring has arrived, many people will jump into the annual spring cleaning ritual in their homes and offices, trashing the old and getting rid of the clutter. But how many people will be spring cleaning their minds, or getting mentally organized?
Steve Siebold is a psychological performance and mental toughness coach and author of 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class. He says if you’re not mentally organized, you’ll be wallowing around unclear about what you want and unsure if you’re competent enough to get it.
Siebold’s tips to get mentally organized:
- Seek solitude: Human beings need recovery strategies if they are going to be at their best, day in and day out. One of the best spring cleaning strategies for the mind is the act of solitude – or simply getting away and getting quiet because it creates more space between your thoughts and helps you escape the bondage of excessive cognition. Even just 20 to 30 minutes a day will be very beneficial.
- Master Time Management: With the busy lives we lead, one of the best things anyone can do is take control of their time. The key is to use time, rather than allowing time to use you. No one can truly manage time, yet everyone can better manage activities.
- Compartmentalize Your Emotions: Perhaps the greatest spring cleaning trick is compartmentalization of your emotions. This is the ability to manage multiple problems and maintain emotional control while solving each problem individually. Don’t get bogged down in every little detail of every little problem and become overwhelmed. While amateurs get tangled in emotions, the pros are grounded in logical problem solving.
- Be More Decisive: The problem with indecisiveness is it clogs the mind and reduces self- confidence. Stop being timid and lacking confidence in your own abilities. Instead, become courageous and confident. Learn to make a decision and be fully responsible for the outcome. Decision-making skills are like muscles: they can only be built through use.
- Learn to Forgive: If you really want to free your mind, learn to forgive. While most people plot revenge, champions learn to release their enemies and move on. Make a list of all the people you feel have slighted you to some degree, and give yourself the gift of a lifetime by forgiving them. You don’t have to tell them; simply forgive them in your heart by coming to terms that we are all fallible human beings.
- Have more fun: One of the keys to spring cleaning the mind is to have more fun. Do things that encompass your natural talents, abilities, and, most of all, your passions. No matter how busy you are, set time for fun each day and better yet, find a job that you see as fun.
- Think bigger: Most people think about how to survive with the least amount of pain and struggle. Ask most people around you what they think about at any given time, and you might be surprised to learn how many people think about just getting by. Stop selling yourself short! If you’re going to be thinking, you may as well think big! Don’t see the world as a scary place; see it as an exciting adventure.
“The benefits of spring cleaning the mind and mental organization will reduce procrastination, improve concentration, improve your ability to prioritize and improve overall efficiency,” Siebold says. “In addition, you’ll see a better work/life balance, less stress and increased peace of mind.”
About the author:
Steve Siebold is the author of 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class: The Thought Processes, Habits and Philosophies of the Great Ones
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