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How Can We Age Mindfully? It All Comes Down to Just One Word
It all begins with giving up on trying to bend everything to our will
My mindfulness is being stress tested today as I write this. My daughter is in a two-year battle with her ex over their divorce. She is making, in my opinion, some very bad decisions. But I can't seem to get through to her. That's all the details I can share, except that I'm very worried about her.
Stress and worry are great teachers because they remind us that stress is not as devastating if we stay mindful. I fancy myself as a mindfulness teacher, and now I'm being put to the test. Can I stay in the present moment in the midst of the challenges life is throwing at me?
That is always the question.
Exploring the benefits of mindfulness with older folks is really my mission here on Medium. So I guess I owe you a confident answer to this important question: How can we age mindfully?
My one-word answer is acceptance.
A mindful old age begins with acceptance. This is my argument based on my personal experience and many years of meditation and Zen practice. I don't look to science for answers— mine is not an "evidence-based" approach to mindfulness (evidence-based usually means science-based).
