Getting older is such a surreal experience. You can feel so much younger than you actually are biologically. When you are young you may think these older ages are so far off, but then before you realize it they become fast approaching and your perspective shifts and you realize that those older ages weren’t as “old” as you once thought.
It can be hard though. Coming to the realization that your so-called “youth” is behind you. But what if you could hold onto that youth-like mindset. What if that mindset shift actually impacted the way you not only view yourself, but the world around you. That it would affect and impact the decisions you made and whether you decided to give up on life or go after it.
You see, life is a gift, and each year that you get to celebrate your birth is a gift because the chances of you even being born are 1 in 400 trillion. Living a long life should be celebrated and honored, not taken for granted. We are afraid of aging because we associate it with being closer to dying and appearing frail, but what if your mindset shift allowed you to let go of your fears of the future and live in the here and now. This type of mindset would help you stay grounded in the present and have gratitude for the gift that life is.
Below are seven amazing ways to help shift your mindset into a more youthful one, so that you no longer have to fear the aging process.
Adapt to things you enjoy, but don’t avoid them just because you are getting older
One of the fears of getting older is that you won’t be able to enjoy the things you used to when you were younger. Most things however you can still enjoy doing for many years if you can just learn to adapt to them.
For example, if you used to love running long distances, perhaps try walking long distances instead, or even running still, but for shorter distances or a slower pace. Any exercise you used to do for that matter, you can usually adapt to something more gentle on your body and your joints.
Whatever it is that you enjoy in life, keep doing those things because that is what makes life fulfilling. Adapt and adjust as you need to, but never stop doing what makes you happy. Let go of the fear that your age will put limits on what you used to love. Enjoy what you love just as you always used to. Adapt as you need to, but don’t avoid them just because you are older now.
Take care of your mind just as much as you take care of your body
As we age, it is important to always take care of your body, but you also do not want to neglect taking care of your mind. This is not just taking care of your emotional health, but also doing practices throughout your life to help keep your mind sharp.
For emotional well-being always make sure you are surrounded and supported by a loving community. Stay connected with your friends, family and loved ones. Try volunteering and helping others. Always work on and follow your passions and what fills you up inside. Make sure to get lots of fresh air and time spent in nature. Lastly, time spent in reflection is never wasted. Journaling can be a beautiful way to release any negative thoughts and fears you have with aging.
To help keep your mind sharp, become a bookworm, work on crossword puzzles, math games, or learn a new game like chess that requires you to think. Learn a new language or a new skill. Become a student again with life. Anything that stretches your mind will help keep you sharp for many years to come.
Have gratitude for how long you have lived on this Earth
Having gratitude can seem like such a simple thing, but that doesn’t mean it should be neglected. Having gratitude for the years that you have been able to live and enjoy life so far should be a beautiful experience to be celebrated more often. Isn’t it amazing all the experiences that you’ve been able to enjoy in this life so far; all the beautiful memories you’ve created and all the wisdom you’ve learned along the way.
You hold so much life experience and knowledge you can teach others that are younger than you. What a gift that is. Too often we take our lives wisdom for granted by not sharing it with others. Having gratitude for the years that you have lived instead of focusing on the negatives of aging will bring honor to your life and your legacy.
Practice meditation and mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness practices can be easy to neglect, but they help in so many powerful ways it is a practice not to be overlooked. Studies have actually found increased production of telomerase after consistent mediation. Telomerase helps to rebuild and lengthen telomeres after your cells divide. With just fifteen minutes of daily meditation, you can increase your telomerase production.
Meditation helps protect against age-related cognitive decline, which will help keep your mind more youthful than your biological age.
Mindfulness practices like meditation as well as Qigong, yoga, walking meditation, breath work, and Tai chi can help improve emotional well-being such as lowering stress, anxiety and depression. Mindfulness practices can also help enhance your mood, relieve stress, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, lower your blood pressure and help alleviate gastrointestinal discomfort.
Mindfulness is a practice to help you engage more in the present moment and have more awareness of your present thoughts, emotions and feelings. Practices like these will help allow you to embrace uncomfortable feelings instead of resisting or numbing them.
One of the most important aspects of mindfulness practices is non-judgement, towards yourself and the thoughts and feelings that may arise. Practice awareness and simply notice and accept the world around you as it is without forming or attaching judgment to it.
Release the need to change a thought, sound or emotions that may arise during a mindfulness practice such as meditation. Accept them as they are. This will help ground you more in the present and help free your mind from negative thoughts and loops in your head.
Be a lifelong learner and try new things
When you were young, your uninhibited nature was to always try new experiences. You weren’t afraid of being bad at something new, you only had this incessant desire to explore the world anew and discover what gifts lay inside of you.
Keep this spirit alive by daring to try new experiences again. Dare to try new opportunities, even if you are bad at them in the beginning. Everyone has to start somewhere. If whatever new experience you are trying is calling to you, then keep practicing it until you have mastered it. Don’t ever stop trying new possibilities due to fear of how others may perceive you.
The innate curiosity that you had when you were young was the driving force behind your desire to learn and try new opportunities. Keep that curiosity alive. Keep trying new possibilities. Be brave to be bad at something new, and you will unlock that childlike freedom and curiosity towards life.
Find purpose in life
Finding purpose is finding direction for your life. Creating goals and chasing your dreams ignites a youthful energy into your life. Without clear direction for your life, you will feel more stagnant and unfulfilled.
This does not have to be anything super grand if that intimidates you too much. Of upmost importance is to find even the smallest things that give purpose and meaning to your life. Start in small ways by doing more that lights you up inside and bring you joy, however small or large they may be, joy will find you.
Laughter is the best medicine
When you have laughter in your life, like the deep belly laughs that make you feel really good inside, this is truly medicine. This type of energy is like that of a child. Youthful. Free. Abandoned. Tap into this type of energy as often as you can and you will innately feel much younger than you actually are.
Life can weigh you down with responsibilities and the realities of getting older and just being an adult; which is why it is even more important to infuse your life with the lightness of laughter as often as you can.
You can consume media or read books that make you laugh. Spend quality time with those that you always have a great time with and bring laughter to your life. Equally important is to spend time around those that allow you to be comfortable enough to be your silly and goofy self and in turn make others laugh too.
However you find ways to infuse more laughter into your life, the energy you feel will shift into more youthful, lighter, and free.
Final Thoughts
Age is inevitable for all of us, but how we approach age and the process of getting older is all in our mindset and the practices we put into place to allow us to age with grace. You cannot avoid getting older, but you do have the power to approach life with a more youthful mindset.
Be proud for how far you have come, you are no accident, and your life has purpose no matter what stage you may be in. Allow life to feel a little lighter by infusing more laughter into it, practicing mindfulness, and doing what you love and what brings you joy.
You cannot change your age biologically, but you can change how you feel as you age. Release the stigma and fear of getting older and just have fun and enjoy your life while you have it. It is truly a gift to be alive, so do not waste any more years on wishing you were younger. Decades from now, you will look back on this very moment and wish you had more gratitude for the youthfulness you had back then.
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all that you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life”. — Eckhart Tolle
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