Saffron says…

After my last post relating to beauty, I couldn’t help but think of its worst enemy – time. Time may age your body but can it age you? I think you have a choice there…

Since I was a kid I was averse to the concept of age… I knew for myself that chronological age meant very little in terms of who I was. At times I was a lot older than my years and at other times I could be a lot younger! Even in school as a little girl, I happened to befriend lots of older girls and the age difference never really occurred to me. My best friend as a child (my neighbour) was also about 5 years older than me and we played together all the time and age was never an issue. I was very close to my maternal grandmother… she would have been in her fifties and sixties when I was growing up since she died at the age of 71 when I was 17. She was so carefree and her attitudes were so liberal, she never struck me in any way as old.  In fact she was more energetic, fearless and fun than most women who were a lot younger than her in age. My other grandmother, in stark contrast, truly did come across as old mostly because her attitudes and beliefs were totally old-fashioned and she had no sense of youth in her personality. Age is never the issue…  it is true that when the body ages and gets weak it takes its toll on the mind but never on the spirit.

I don’t see people for their age… many of my friends don’t  understand that about me… I see a person’s energy, their attitudes, their disposition, their goodness, their youthfulness or lack there of… I don’t see their age. I respect little kids… they’re not always silly or immature, they’re honest and their view of the world is untainted, unbiased and just truer! They are more in touch with their spirit and therefore can be quite wise in their simplistic thoughts and attitudes. I enjoy the company of anyone of any age so long as they are free in spirit, lively and fun or wise… age is not a factor. I have met some 50 year olds who were ‘younger‘ than some 35 year olds I know. In fact I know people a good 20 years older than I am who are a lot fitter and more active than me, people I would not be able to keep up with. We now know that our body age could vary up to 15 years this way or that from our chronological age according to our health and how well we take care of ourselves. So the 35 year old who abuses his body could in fact be older (bodily) than the 45 year old who takes care of himself! Then what’s the point of being able to say “I’m 35”?

So what is the big deal about age? What does it mean except the length of time you’ve been alive… actually if you think about it, it really only tells us how many times the earth revolved around the sun while you’ve been alive!!!!! Why do we discriminate or judge people by their chronological age when it is no representation of who they are or what they are capable of? To me, one’s body age is a much more useful figure to know and consider if at all. The truth is that who you are has nothing to do with age cos your spirit is essentially ageless! Time cannot touch you. Time is just a concept that makes day-to-day life practical and gives us a perspective on something our minds cannot otherwise comprehend. Doctors and scientists are discovering that we play a large part in the process of aging by way of how we think, eat, exercise and even where we live! The idea of age is becoming obsolete as people no longer look their age like they once used to, nor does it represent their capabilities so what use of it?

Some people are so obsessed with youth but they fear a number more than the reality of – the state of their body, their mind and the consequences of their lifestyle! To me this is insane. I have friends who think they are old cos they are close to turning 30… so basically 20 something year olds’ are telling themselves they are OLD! How very sad and unproductive this concept of ‘age‘ is!

Sometimes I think we are so caught up with age cos it’s yet another idea we can use to differentiate ourselves from another or use to segregate in to groups… “I’m in my 20’s and you’re in your 40’s so we’re totally different and because I’m younger I’m better than you are!” or “I’m in my 40’s and you’re still in your 20’s so I know much more than you do” or “We’re both in our 20’s so we  must be similar and we have this in common so we’re in the same group!” – Yeah but what else do you have in common????

Holding on to a concept like “age” is not very constructive in my view… it seems to causes segmentation in an already over segmented world.  If you are a lover of unity and oneness you would realise how useless age is to us as a concept. I feel there will be a move towards ‘agelessness‘ in the future and I look forward to it… but that is a whole other post! 🙂

ps: There are some great books like “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind”  by Dr. Deepak Chopra if you are interested in learning more about your body and how to live free of the concept of age.

~ by Dilruha on March 31, 2011.

Posted in CONTEMPLATIONS