Being able to Be in the Moment - Aging

I was reading for one of my classes and I was reading an article about Death and Dying. It was an article that was assigned because of something that I had to respond to on the demographics of our aging society. The following statement was included in the article,

"The elderly have possiblities in the future, they have their realities in the past--the deeds done, the loved ones loved, and, last but not least, the sufferings they have gone through with courage and dignity. In a word, they have already brought in the harvest of their lives and now may, as it has been said in the Book of Job, come to their graves, "like a shock of corn cometh in his season. (Generations 15, 7-10 (Fall 1990) Viktor Frankl pg. 421-429)"

I also read another statement included that inferred that the length of life is not what is important, but "the richnesss of the respective life."

I like the first statement because to me it really supported my view of life...if I am able to look back at what I have gone through and know that I have done so with a sense of knowing that I was able to live a life that I can feel good about then I know that no matter how long I had or have it was all good. How many of us think about life from the view that we are not just getting old, we are not just losing time, but we are building something...but what have we built? Perhaps, that is the more serious thing to think about.

Amongst all of the readings another thought that came out was one that said if you live your life fully knowing that this is the best chance that you have with the choices that you make and take the time to "really" understand the magnitude and reality of what your choices will create then you will have a life will little regret. Regret comes from a person's choices that they did not fully appreciate before they made them and then when the fullness of what those choices gave birth to came to being or created was fully realized, regret was then born. The thought was by these thinkers and the advice of them were to "live knowing the full balance of your choice," and at that point fulling realizing what would be the outcome and you will be less likely to regret what happens.

It is true, and I see a lot of people caught up in despair and depression, because they refuse to count the cost as it were, and then they live a life that they really don't want.

It is hard sometimes to take the time to weigh and balance all of the costs, but it is easier when you are not the only one who will pay for your choices.

It was a good set of articles.