Spiritual Ageing
Balancing of Life's See Saw
Wonderful to be out of the embryonic bubble, so says the baby arriving into our world!
Yes we are born, but are we really born free? The obvious answer is not! For no one is born to be selfish but to love, care and to serve others with compassion and love.
What then is our purpose here on Earth you might ask at some point in your life. Maybe to perpetuate the human race and to glorify God and mankind.
Our DNA makes up who we are. Tests of DNA profiling might shock us with proof that we belong to more than just one race. Religions and race aside, our hearts continue to beat as one, with the same colored blood flowing through our bodies. So, truly we are just one human race.
From the moment we are born, we are to conform to society’s norms set up aeons ago. Firstly there is the environment, materialism, food, shelter, education and human personal needs to survive in this world of ours.
When life is well balanced you neither feel anxious or enthusiastic. You will then feel neutral and peaceful until a sudden jerk or force changes that equilibrium. You now need to focus, feel enthusiastic again as the rush of adrenaline pumps up your body system telling you to take care, hold on tight, lest you fall from this inertia of movement.
When young, one seems to be high in ideals, with aspirations to go higher, a real good feeling that is! As life throws us a curve ball every now and then, we take on the impossible to succeed in fields that need our “conquering”. Transformation from the basic to artificial intelligence, and with the onset of flying cars and the internet of things, man is now overwhelmed. With the recent invention of walking, talking and laughing Robots “Sophia” and “Adam” human beings expressed that these robots are so human like. It is real spooky!
How then will man survive in the future? We have to adapt, change and reinvent ourselves to keep up with automation just to stay relevant in today’s society needs. Change is inevitable and it will affect everyone! Only human emotions remain the same.
Life can be summed up into 3Es – expectations, experiences and endurances which depict the highs, whilst 3Ds – difficulties, disillusionments and danger are the lows. Only human beings can see-saw through this roller coaster ride of Life.
Life as you well know is not a “bed of roses” as one would like to believe. We have to will ourselves, train or read up self-help books to overcome life’s negativity. Prayers and God do play a significant role in our daily living.
As the saying goes: “In life if you fail to plan you plan to fail.” It is as simple as that!
No man lives alone as we are terribly interdependent on each other in this world to love, protect, provide and uplift one’s living or carry another’s burden. Failing which, man’s greed and selfishness will suddenly appear resulting in miscommunication, uncaringness and isolation. Let us live the good motto: “All for one and one for All” in order to live life harmoniously and peacefully.
We must teach children to “Save the Earth” too. Ban on single plastics so that whales and other fishes do not die swallowing these plastic bags. Corrective measures must be put in place now!
Also there must not be deforestation for development as the Earth is being choked to death with less oxygen especially since the burning Amazon Forest provides 20% of earth’s oxygen!
Sometime in the year 2020s, flying cars and robots will be reality greeting us with: “Welcome to my world!” Those in this Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry will benefit whilst all others will have to fend for themselves (don’t know how now) to stay alive as by then cash exchange would no longer be in existence due to e-wallets and a new socio-economic environment.
We, the people of the Earth must now pledge to “Save the Earth and Mankind”
Here is to hoping and praying that there will be a world without end, hopefully with humans still around to ensure world peace through eternity.
About Spiritual Ageing
Determined To Still Look Beautiful
by Sheela Kanagasabai
My late mother never wore make up, yet I cannot live without mine. She was determined not to persecute herself for each new wrinkle she spied in the mirror. Instead she was proud of her little laughter lines and saw them as stories. She celebrated her wrinkles for what they told. A child of the nineteen twenties, her family observed humble rules of survival.
Looking at all the old photos, I curiously asked mum about how she took care of her skin and maintain her youth. Her greatest beauty secret she exclaimed in jest was - just be happy with yourself. As far as I could distinctly remember, mum had only four items of toiletries on her wooden makeup table i.e. Cuticura (a talcum powder), Ponds (moisturizer that keeps your facial skin soft and moist), Yarley of London (a thick green hair cream), Hazeline Snow (cooling and refreshing facial cream). These are same skin care ageless products that have remained rejuvenatingly unchanged.
I am glad that my mother had a firm hand in my formative years. Somewhere in between the volatile mix of hormones and emotions, she encouraged me to find my inner values by spending less time in front of the mirror. It was she who thought me to hold in my stomach against my inner critics. Mum said that ageing is a journey, not a destination – it’s your attitude not your age that matters. Although she knew nothing of detoxing, dermabrasion, liposuction or cosmetic dentistry, my mother still looks younger than her years. The secret, she said was realizing that growing old is a privilege.
According to my late father, not everyone could afford a camera in those days. There were no instances where he was able to continuously capture mum’s beauty with a mobile phone. Photographs were more posed, only taken on special occasions and treasured. Yet, he always kept one photo of mum that evoked memories of the woman he would marry. Realistically captured, that photogenic picture portrait shows a comfortable and youthful face, which continues to be my source of inspiration. One glimpse of it and the feelings of warmth, happiness and security returned, father reminisced. He remembered mum as an attractive yet simple young lady and further described his conquest as owning the knowing smile of an angel.
Mum adored going to movies where actresses of the late 20s and 30s like Greta Gabor and Bette Davies were her idols on screen. She dressed up in similar fashioned dresses and floral skirts which celebrated her curves, did not expose her knees, wore wedge shoes, fashioned her hair in pretty locks entwined with hair nets and bobby pins, maintained a respectable waist line and carried dainty handbags. Her idols were the same beautiful women who were insecure about their appearance.
At the age of 83yrs, mother was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer which resulted in her face being structurally altered after surgery. She received lots and love and support from her church members and prayers gave her strength on days when all her energy was spent. Her once beautiful facial features and flawless skin was now beyond recognition. Having lived so much of her life looking at her mirrored image, she found solace in keeping her head down and focusing on just living. She constantly reminded me that she had to make the best with whatever time and remaining health that she had left, by getting through TODAY first.
I used to tell myself that I just want tomorrow to get here so I did not have to deal with the daily pains of her treatment. I slowly realized that each day came for a reason and an opportunity for her to get stronger in spirit and emotions. “Tomorrow will come for me if the good Lord allows, but I must embrace the pain, laughter, loss and joy of today first” she said.