TRIPLE STREAM
Art of Ageing Youthfully
Prof. I. V. Chalapati Rao
Life is not a bondage. Earthly life is not a vale of tears. Death is not the end of the book but the end of a chapter. Man wishes to live forever, yet fears old age. Old age is not such a dull, drab, dreary, demanding life. It is only the natural process of ageing which should not be allowed to remove us from the main stream and relegate us to the limbo. It is only a time of rest and renewal – a launching pad into adventure and search for alternative styles of living.
We had been in the front line of the battle field for most of our lives and now we can stand aside and give ourselves a little breathing time and tension-free, even tenor of life. Let us remember our glorious life, golden youth followed by venerable years with a still vigorous mind, and shake awake sagging spirit.
Retirement is not solitary confinement or the dead end of the street but a joyous experience, if we cultivate and retain the right attitude of mind. Because we have completed sixty or eighty years of life, we should not think that the warranty has expired and feel that we are overstaying after the expiry of the visa! Old age or retirement is not a terminal point but the starting point of a new life of freedom and adventure. It is not a lingering monotony of existence but a serene journey towards the winning post of fulfilment and self-actualisation. When we lose our sense of honour and cease to look forward, we are senile.
A second transformation awaits us in retirement. It is the most profound and truly productive period in life.
Service is prose, retirement is poetry. Planned retirement is a romantic novel. There are umpteen options, soft and hard. We have the pleasure of having time to do the things we had not time to do before, and discover what to do for the rest of our lives, if we had not already planned. We can even opt for service – full-time, part time or own time. We can even choose voluntary service to the society, sharing and caring. Let us resolve to school ourselves every moment in the art and science of living. Let us change ourselves. We have done our part long enough in changing others.
The art of life consists in joyful acceptance and constant readjustment to change, adaptation to the new environment and inter-personal relations. We should introspect and audit our actions. The cause of being miserable is too much leisure and having nothing to do. Work is the cure for it. A senior citizen was asked “what is the heaviest burden in life?” His answer was “Having nothing to carry”. We cannot change the inexorable laws of nature and eventual descent into mortality. We should sympathise with the aspirations of the younger members of the family and understand that our roles are reversed in the family. Then there will be no generation gap. It is but natural that our reflexes may slowdown a little, our memory power, reaction times, and concentration span may decline. It is normal to have slow memory and an unhurried pace of action. We need not worry that we cannot do sit-ups and push-ups and climb a flight of stairs without gasping for breath and that wrinkles and pouches appear on our weather-beaten faces. We need not live on the fast track and be over-achievers straining to reach the dead lines. We can do what we can within the limits of our stamina, minimizing stress, eating wisely and staying slim with walking and moderate exercise. Years may wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm will wrinkle the soul! Young men’s beauty is skin deep but that of the old is soul deep.
Senior citizens need to open up in congenial company, learn to relate to their fellow human beings and avoid loneliness as far as possible. They should welcome contacts with people by remaining proactive but not reactive. Human brain is a veritable dynamo. It has tremendous power to rejuvenate itself. Research has proved that older brains are not inferior and that mental powers do not decline at 75. Wisdom is an invaluable asset in old age. Wisdom requires versatility of response to change. Experience is another asset which the youth lacks but age possesses. Experience cannot be acquired from schools and colleges. It is not in the syllabus. The youth have always a thing or two to learn from the elders. We can sit and remember because we created memories in our long little life. Who does not like to turn on the Time machine of H. G. Wells in the reverse gear to journey into the pleasant past? The most desirable thing is to be born old and to achieve youth to be able to enjoy life fully. But God has decreed otherwise. Smiles the philosopher said “Happy is the man who can look back with pleasure the memory of his good deeds.” Buddha said “Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.” We should do course correction and chart a new path when it is necessary.
There are three kinds of ages:
1. Chronological age (Age by the Calendar)
2. Biological age (By the condition of the body)
3. Psychological age (How old you feel you are)
In fact age is arterial, not chronologic. At 80 one can be young and at 18 one can be old. It is the feeling that decides. People do not grow old. When they stop growing they become old. Plato said long ago “The state of your mind affects the condition of your body”. One will stay young as long as one continues to learn from new habits and does not mind being contradicted or criticized. Youth is not a time of life but a condition of the mind and imagination. Senility is the effect of selfishness. True youth is a quality which is acquired with age. One can remain young by changing the perception of age, by getting rid of toxic emotions (‘Arishad Varga’) and cultivating positive attitude. We should find a positive for every negative. There is a wireless station in the heart which creates a youthful spirit as long as it receives messages of hope, cheer and confidence. As long as we keep our antennas up, it makes no difference whether we are eighteen or eighty. One can die young at 80. Age makes a person seasoned and wiser; let us learn the art of ageing youthfully. Let us not die with an unlived life. The only reason to be alive is to enjoy life while doing good deeds.
‘ISA UPANISHAD’ says “Man should live for hundred years, performing good deeds”, The traditional blessing to the Brahmachary is “May you live for hundred years”. The marriage vow of the couple is “May we live for hundred autumns”. Upanishadic injunction is “Life in death but not death in life”. Long life is a universal desire. Gandhiji wanted to live for 125 years. Buddha went on preaching till he died at 80. Betrand Russell was lecturing and writing at 94. Bernard Shaw lived for 93 years and wanted that human span of life should be extended because “man dies before he learns to live.”
Rabindranath Tagore, another long liver, said: “I spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument when the song I came to sing still remained unsung”. Barbara Carter, the British novelist, wrote her 606th novel when she was 94! When a lady was congratulated on attaining 90 years and her admirers wished that she should live for 100 years, she questioned “Why set limits to God’s bounty? All the sugar is at the bottom of the cup.” That should be the spirit. When Winston Churchill, the war-time Prime Minister of England, attained the age of 80, press people took his photograph and expressed their wish that they would like to see him again when he would reach his 90th year. Churchill smiled and said with his characteristic humour “You are young! You need not doubt.” The soul requires stimulus and reeducation. Let us switch on the ignition and embark on a high octave drive! Even God rests in action!