Hello and welcome to this brief affirmative practice to begin our days,
To end our days,
To be part of our day.
We always have a choice,
Although it doesn't always feel like it.
I am neither old nor young.
I feel proud to think of myself as young,
When I constitute good energy,
Feel openness and optimism.
I feel proud to call myself old,
Because that's what I am in years in comparison to many,
And I'm here to tell the tale.
For many years I felt young,
Because I am the youngest in my family of origin.
I feel old,
Because I am the last remaining member of my family of origin,
And I carry them with me and I wear their faces.
I feel old,
Because I look in the mirror and see the wrinkles,
Marking the life I have lived.
I am proud of the life I have lived.
I am younger than I will be,
Because I look at my face in the mirror,
And wonder how many more wrinkles I might accumulate as I live my life,
How many more people or experiences might touch me.
I feel old,
Because I sometimes forget things,
A piece of information,
A detail of a memory.
I feel proud to have so many things to be able to remember or forget,
That I have more to learn and more to remember and more to forget ahead.
I can feel old when there is a twinge of pain or stiffness that I haven't had before.
I feel blessed when I understand that some people live their whole lives with pain,
With limited mobility,
Limited abilities,
And I give thanks for my life of relative wellness.
I am neither old nor young,
They are only partial descriptions.
I feel young and I feel old,
And I am proud to be able to feel,
And to feel either of those two states.
I am a tiny dot in the landscape of living,
My life is impermanent.
I can choose to call it a privilege to be here,
Whatever my age is,
And I am grateful,
And within each day I find a blessing.
May you find your blessing within each day.
Thank you for sharing this reflection with me,
Jan Russell.
May you go well.
