Fulfillment as We Age Means Looking Deeply Within
By Dr. Susanne T. Eden
How unfortunate to think that, once we find the first grey hair, life is all downhill. Thinking that the later decades are only about looking at life in the rearview mirror is a form of self-imposed defeatism.
It’s more hopeful and fulfilling to embrace the next season of life not as a time of decline, but as a time of possibility.
Living fully as we age may seem a contradiction. Yet the senior years are our last chance to look more deeply into ourselves.
If you’re hoping to find fulfillment in your later years, follow my lead in embracing these more introspective approaches:
1. Resolve to heal your body
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes some 30 years ago. The doctors told me it was irreversible and that it would only get worse as I aged. Later, I was told that, with lifestyle changes, I could possibly reverse my diabetes. Despite my best efforts, it didn’t happen. But unwilling to accept failure, I came to see that I must reclaim my power and become a partner in decisions about my health.
I began to use practices that were outside mainstream medicine that helped relieve my symptoms and improved the quality of my life. When I combined my energy healing techniques with healthy lifestyle choices, I was able to better control my health — alongside my well-being.
2. Unburden yourself from your past
The holistic practices I incorporated for my physical health also addressed my mental and spiritual health. Gradually, my inner spirit awakened, and I could face the buried traumas of my past. I replaced the low vibrational energy of buried trauma with the high vibration of hope and contentment.
Freeing ourselves from the burdens of past pain colors our lives with joy and serenity. Exploring the hidden, or mystical, part of the human self and its effects on health will likely be the next exciting frontier for medical research.
3. Learn to forgive
For a long time, I carried around pent-up resentment toward my mother-in-law, who suffered from mental illness. Then, in a therapy session, I allowed myself to spew the hateful things festering in my mind. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted. While I understood that my mother-in-law didn’t choose to be so tormented, releasing the negative energy that she generated was therapeutic and freed me to be more compassionate and forgiving.
Uncovering experiences that are damaging our lives, and forgiving those responsible, is truly liberating. Even more important is acknowledging your own mistakes and forgiving yourself.
4. Take up journaling
Journal writing played an important role in my self-discovery. Although it began as an expression of gratitude and a means to organize my day-to-day life, it soon became a vehicle for exploring my inner self.
Journal writing is a highly personal tool for self-discovery. There aren’t any rules for style, grammar, or punctuation. Anything goes. Insights and new perspectives on life’s experiences will lead you to a better understanding.
As you embark on the journey in your later years of becoming whole, you can’t know who will emerge. But as you probe into the very core of your being, releasing past wounds and learning to appreciate yourself, fulfillment
flows from being true to yourself.
Read more in GRAND about positive aging here
