{"id":132676,"date":"2024-11-01T17:09:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T21:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/?p=132676"},"modified":"2024-11-02T00:44:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T04:44:38","slug":"overcoming-the-fear-of-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/01\/overcoming-the-fear-of-aging\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming the Fear of Aging"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leo Babauta<\/a><\/h4>\n

Last year, I turned 50 years old \u2026 and I found myself thinking about aging more than I ever had before. To be clear, 50 years old is still pretty young, but there\u2019s something about the number that had me realizing that my 60s and 70s aren\u2019t very far away, and it was a bit confronting to me.<\/p>\n

After all, I\u2019d spent most of my life thinking that growing old was something to fear. It\u2019s a cultural assumption that goes deep into our society \u2014 beliefs that being old means you are feeble, weak, helpless, irrelevant. I know that that isn\u2019t really true \u2014 but we\u2019re constantly given cultural messages that it is true.<\/p>\n

So when I turned 50, I spent some time sitting with this. What does it mean to me to grow older? What are my fears? What are my prejudices? How do I want my older years to be?<\/p>\n

As an exercise, I highly recommend that you start to notice your own biases about aging and being old, and notice how often people around you (and in the media you consume) talk about aging as if it\u2019s a bad thing. The word \u201cold\u201d is used as an insult. If you say you\u2019re old, other people will tell you, \u201cOh, you\u2019re not old yet\u201d as if you were insulting yourself. Or, \u201cIt\u2019s OK, you don\u2019t look old.\u201d Or, \u201cYou look young for your age!\u201d These are meant to be reassuring, because being old is assumed to be bad.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all around us. And when everyone and everything we encounter treats being old, and aging, as something bad, then of course we\u2019re going to fear it. It\u2019s similar to old cultural messages about being overweight, being gay, or having a mental disability. These are all turned into insults, which means if we are any of these things, we are meant to feel ashamed.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s rebel against all of that! Reclaim being old, reclaim aging. If we can change these messages, at least to ourselves, then the fear and shame lose their power over us.<\/p>\n

So here are some things I\u2019ve done in the past 18 months to transform my relationship to aging:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I started noticing my own biases against aging and old age. And started noticing it in the way others talk about aging and being old.<\/li>\n
  2. I started pointing this hidden agism out to others, lovingly. And changing my language around all of it.<\/li>\n
  3. I started seeing people who are empowered in their old age \u2014 athletes, Nobel prize winners, incredible artists, people who are pillars in their communities, monks and sages, gardeners and house builders. I started seeing them as my models.<\/li>\n
  4. I started envisioning how I want to be in my older years. Empowered, compassionate, creative, adventurous, learning, expanding. Gentle, kind, and curious.<\/li>\n
  5. I began to sit with my fears of being powerless. This is the hidden beast underneath our fears about aging \u2014 none of us want to feel powerless, and yet we are all descending into helplessness eventually. So I found places where I already feel powerless, and began to bring compassion to myself whenever I feel it.<\/li>\n
  6. I see every challenge that will come to me in old age \u2014 physical, mental, emotional, relational, career, spiritual \u2014 as exactly the edge for me to practice with, when they come. My strength and wisdom will only deepen as I encounter these challenges, as they have with all of my challenges so far.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And with this, I now feel so in love with growing older!<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a magical thing, living into this new chapter of my life. I feel more patient, more compassionate, more connected to others, than ever before. And I look forward to the adventure that awaits me as my body and mind and spirit continue to evolve.<\/p>\n

    I wish you all love as you progress in your journeys as well.<\/p>\n

    The post Overcoming the Fear of Aging<\/a> appeared first on zen habits<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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