I wrote about people who hide their birthdate when they fill forms and I said that they do not want anybody else to know their age. This means that they feel uncomfortable with that number. I ask myself why actually that is? It is in the end only a number. It indicates how many years you have lived in this world. Of course they don’t want others to say they are old. But what is old and why do we feel old when this number, our age, has a certain height?
I cannot help but think of India again. My own mother and grandmother do not even know their birthdate or year. They do not know how old they really are. Of course, everybody has an approximate guess but two or three years more or less are not important for them. And when they don’t even know how old they are, how could they feel old?
I have this feeling in the west that people have problems with their age each time when they reach a round figure. It can be 30, 40, 50 or any other year after that. They have birthday and just think: I am another year older! So that number actually makes you old! Look at my mother and grandmother! They have no idea how old they are so they just live naturally without having this feeling of counting. It is only this feeling that makes you old, otherwise you can stay just young! Forget about numbers! Enjoy life and stay young forever!
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I absolutely love my birthday…any age; it is a chance for you and others to celebrate your special day/their special day, your new year/their new year and your life/their life…i do not ever look at it as a ticking clock of time passed only as time promises…a new adventure awaits….love and light
In the west, people have problems with EVERYTHING. 🙂
Every year that adds to my age means development, development of the mind, the heart, the soul. I’d rather develop than stay we’re I am! Every development so far has enriched my life and expanded my possibilities. :-))
I have so many friends who feel old! I just keep getting younger, I feel more and more free as the years go by.
I am 53 (okay maybe a few years older, but just a few!). Age represents loss to me.
As the body ages and begins to return to where it came from this is a great opportunity to let go of life, let go of physical beauty, let go of people, let go of our attachment to form. We cannot deny the aging of the body and people who try are subject to great imbalance and fear. Accepting age, loss, our own death opens us up to beauty. We can raise our consciousness through aging. It can be even easier because of the gift of aging. And rising consciousness only leads to happiness and joy…not fear, not pain.
My daughter offers me more wisdom than I can offer her. I don’t notice much about age other than the way my body changes. I experience it differently as I age.
I agree that age does not determine wisdom and many different age groups seem to have a different kind of wisdom to share with one another. I also think that experience is important in understanding and that it is likely that an older person has had more experiences than a younger one although this is not always the case. The wisdom of children should be respected and shared. They know things that adults have forgotten. I find it very strange to think that a person in the US that is under the age of 18 is subject to the control of a parent or guardian who may be very unconscious. I think of a smiling child alongside their joyless mother in the super market. She cannot find what she is looking for and becomes very angry. Her child is sitting in her shopping cart humming. She suddenly focuses her anger on the child, smacking him or yelling. There is no respect for the child here, or it’s wisdom. This is absolutely crazy. There are lessons from adults that are necessary for a child and lessons from children that are necessary for adults.
I just turned 25, and to be honest for the first time in my life I do feel older. Doesn’t have to do with the number though. Actually I think it has been just spending a few months in India. Learning so much about myself and people. Enjoying the comfort of my an outsider in a place where I’m not supposed to belong. I’m very glad I came here. And of course it was nothing like I expected. Thank you India.
I have friends who recently turned 26 and they are already complaining! And they are so bummed about it that they don’t even enjoy their birthdays. Don’t they realize that they have been getting “older” every second of every day since their last birthday? Just because we “turn” one year older doesn’t mean it’s a big shift. It’s been happening gradually over a whole year! How silly.