What would your 85 year old self tell you to do?

Most of us spend our time trying to hold back time.

We try to avoid getting older as much as possible. But what if we’ve got it all wrong? What about all the mental benefits that aging brings? The wisdom, perspective and learning to let things go?

What if we could combine the two – the wisdom that comes from aging with the physical benefits of still being young?

Let’s mentally take a trip into the future.

Picture the scene…

You’re in the latter part of your life – 85 years old. Your hair is grey and your skin is aged but your mind is still very sharp.

It’s a late summer’s afternoon; you’re sitting outside on a beautiful rocking chair in the shade. You’ve had a wonderful day. You’re sipping something delicious. You feel mellow and content. You’ve been through a lot in your lifetime. Many highs and lows. You’ve lost many of your friends and family now.

You close your eyes and start to reminisce about your life.

You can see now that so many things you worried about when you were younger didn’t really matter.

You can see now that there were many things you did to please other people that were detrimental to you.

You can see now that for a lot of years you didn’t live as the real you. You were living as other people wanted you to – your family, your friends, society…

You can see now that you often worked too hard. Giving so much to people and organisations that didn’t give back to you. Thinking you were indispensable and giving your all at the expense of your health and happiness.

You can see now that you didn’t always express your feelings to those that you wished you had – both good and bad. You wish you’d spoken more from the heart.

You can see now that you didn’t allow enough time for fun or friendship or happiness or self-care.

You can see now that you didn’t value yourself as much as you should have done. You truly were a wonderful, worthwhile, lovable person but you just couldn’t see it at the time.

You can see now that you put up with things far longer than you should have done, without making any changes.

You can see now that you didn’t go for opportunities that were perfect for you because you were scared that you weren’t enough.

You can see now that you pushed down your feelings and emotions too often because they felt too much for you to deal with.

You can see now that you made so many decisions based on fear and not on love.

You can see now that you spent too much money on things that didn’t matter and not enough money on things that did.

You can see now that you didn’t always allow yourself to be happy.

You can see so many things now that you couldn’t see then.

You have regrets, many things that you wish you could have changed or done differently, but it’s too late now, time is running out.

Over the years you’ve gained so much wisdom, knowledge and perspective but you can’t go back and change the past now.

You drift off into a beautiful, peaceful sleep….

And back to the present day.

How nice would it be to have 85 year old wisdom, knowledge and perspective when we are younger?

How often do you worry about things that don’t really matter?

How often do you give too much, only to end up feeling empty and resentful because you get so little in return?

How often do you not speak up about things that are really important to you?

How often do you not go for things that are perfect for you?

How often do you make decisions based on fear and not on love?