Are you Anti-Aging? Be Content with What Is not What Was.

Are you Anti-Aging? Be Content with What Is not What Was. By Dr. Toni LaMotta

Our world is obsessed with youth and beauty. We are bombarded daily with ANTI-aging techniques and products. No wonder so many people fear growing older. Frankly, I‰Ûªd rather not be ANTI anything but be FOR Aging‰Û_in a healthy and conscious fashion.

How would our world change if all of us began to see the aging process as a means of spiritual growth?

A few years ago I spent about three months in a hospital and nursing home.åÊ I noticed that I wasn‰Ûªt asking, why is this happening to me? I wasn‰Ûªt feeling like a victim. I wasn‰Ûªt even asking what did I do to cause this?åÊ as I might have several years previously. But, I found myself asking the question – What does my soul want here? What can I learn from this experience?åÊ What GIFT can I find here? And I noticed that I began to see the aging process in a whole new way. Deep awakening was happening as I let myself just ‰ÛÏaccept what is‰Û.

The lesson was reinforced while visiting a dear friend 104 years young. She told me that she decided a while ago that it made no sense to complain because her life had gotten smaller. (She had two rooms, which she seldom left in an assisted living facility.) because if she were to be filled with complaints, she wouldn‰Ûªt be happy and she said boldly, ‰ÛÏI‰Ûªd rather be happy.‰Û

‰ÛÏPerhaps there are things I should be doing‰Û, she said.åÊ ‰ÛÏSometimes I find myself wishing I could go back to Sweden where I was born‰Û_ but I know I will not be traveling anymore‰Û_so rather than wish I were doing what I can no longer do, I have learned to be SATISFIED with the fact that I HAVE done so much‰Û (she and her husband were both pilots ‰ÛÒ so they traveled a great deal.)

I truly believe that the secret to her long life and happiness ‰ÛÒ besides having a bourbon and water each night! ‰ÛÒ was the fact that she was CONTENT WITH WHAT IS.

I‰Ûªm not saying not to have wonderful memories. But I have noticed that the unhappiest older people I know are those who long to be as they once were, rather than as they are now.åÊ Those who compare themselves with the way they were 20 years ago are engaging in an exercise certain to keep them in an unhappy state. One of the spiritual tasks of aging is learning to live without regret and striving to be happy with who and what we are right now

Dr. Toni LaMotta is a keynote speaker, best-selling author of ‰ÛÏWhat You REALLY Want, Wants You‰Û and spiritual teacher supporting people in consciously embracing the process of aging. åÊShe also helps coaches & speakers create, publish and market their books. http://www.tonilamotta.com