Helping the Youth Carry the Responsibility for the Future.

Among the 5.7 billion human beings, the older generation, including me, is getting ready to say goodbye to this world. The youth has to carry the responsibility for the future.
Dalai Lama

The Older Generation

I will be 56 in a couple of days. I am becoming a part of the "older generation".  I still have a ways to go before I have to say "goodbye" but I am getting there.  I am getting older. It is hard to grasp that with my foolish mind.  Something in me perceives no change, no death of cells, no generation of others.  Though it is "acutely" aware of the passage of time before me...it doesn't see me changing. Well...until I have a good look in the mirror, that is. 

A Time to Fear, says Ego

Ego is then very quick to pick out the crow's feet, the wrinkled brow, sagging skin, menopausal belly  and greying hair. Like a film reel, it reminds me of the many, many, many  past events I have experienced...the good, the bad and the ugly. It  tells me that I am "losing, fading away, getting ready for the big D." Ego likes to instill fear and it is often successful at doing so. It is not something that makes any of us feel better for very long.  :)

I don't like to confront ego in the glass, and not because I fear its message but because it is so demanding and almost impossible  to satisfy!!! So I don't try to very often. I never did, even in my younger years. I seldom spent time in front of the mirror.  I went without the things my culture encouraged: hours primping and preening, straightening or curling hair, applying makeup and hiding defects in attempts to get the look of  whomever was trending then...from Farrah Fawcett to the Kardashians.  I was always more of a wash, comb, flip hair back in a pony tail and off you go...kind of person. (Much to my daughters' dismay).  I don't look in a mirror a lot.

So I can go on a long, long time believing that though everything around me is changing...I am not. Isn't that strange? Is my mind fooling me?

Being Fooled and Finding the Truth

Yes... my mind is fooling "me" but "I" also see the truth.  On the outside I am changing...the "me" is experiencing constant flux...but the "I" within ...that which the ego refuses or is unable  to comment on... is changeless.  It is that part of me that doesn't recognize the change the collective ego is so aware of because it sees beyond the superficial. It knows I  am really not changing.  :)

So at this age...an age society fears instead of  celebrating because it means we are getting close to the final decades of life expectancy...what does "me' want and what does "I" want?

What "me' wants at this time...

  "Me" fears!  It wants to hide the physical aging....to reclaim youth...to run from death's grip.  It wants a false sense of security in physical things ( pensions, safe housing, money tucked away for future). It wants a healthy and beautiful body more than it ever did.  So "me' will work its butt off despite of body and mind breakdown...in order to create some idea of "security" or appearance of health and well being . It is jealous and judgmental of the young.  It wants to blend in amongst them instead of standing out. It does not want to  celebrate this glorious rite of passage. It wants to deny it.

What "I" wants at this time...

What, on the other hand,  does "I" want? I wants to be known.  It wants to be felt and experienced...it wants to shine.  It wants peace and joy...and truth and love.  It knows that it's days within this physical form  are numbered , so it wants to make great use of it while it can.  It knows that is  has matured enough within this body and mind to do just that. It offers wisdom.  It does not want to blend into the younger culture where it won't be heard...Instead, it wants its grey hairs and wrinkles to stand out as signs that it is ready to mentor, teach and assist the younger humanity in its own growth. It celebrates the aging of the body and mind as markers that we are ready to do that.

We are ready to lead, mentor, guide and teach!  This is what this passage is all about...doing that. It is not about little "me" anymore...is it?  It is about something so much greater

Our youth need us...whether they know it or not.  They need us to show them the way.  And we do that not by judging or forcing or "preaching".  We do that by setting an example in this golden age of our lives. We do so by "being" the "I" we all are.

All is well in my world.