A Beautiful Mind
Last year I spoke at the Fielding Institute's International
Conference on Positive Aging in Los Angeles. The event was held at the Center
for Non-Profit Management which sits next to Chinatown and the old Union Train
Station. It is one of the most colorful and historical areas of Los Angeles. The
conference presentations were divided into 4 categories: wellness, life
transitions, creativity, and community.
Aligning the main hallway leading to the workshop room where
I spoke were twelve prominent and huge and colorful posters, each inscribed
with one of the statements below. When I stood beneath these mammoth posters,
looked up and read what these wise elders had to say about the power of
maintaining a beautiful mind, I took
out a piece of paper and wrote down each of their quotations.
A beautiful mind feels free to discover new things and to
open new doors.
A beautiful mind avoids rigid thinking.
A beautiful mind is optimistic and sees the good in life and
seeks out the good.
A beautiful mind believes that excellent nutrition is a
pathway to inner peace.
A beautiful mind finds enjoyment in daily experiences and
savors those experiences.
A beautiful mind stays physically active and knows that
exercise enhances the mind/body/spirit connection.
A beautiful mind thinks creatively and looks for solutions.
A beautiful mind lives in the moment while playing with
future possibilities.
A beautiful mind takes risks and loves to learn new things.
A beautiful mind knows how to play, enjoy, relax, and have
fun.
A beautiful mind is not concerned with age but instead finds
ways to thoroughly enjoy the fruits of aging.
A beautiful mind notices and appreciates the splendor of
nature, music, art, and dance.
A beautiful mind loves loving and being loved.
Because of the negative ways the media portrays the aging
process in America, we typically have very limited and biased views of what it
means to age graciously and healthily. I’ve met thousands of people through my
former classes at Santa Barbara City College who were enjoying aging and
thriving in their respective lives and I have met thousands of people who were
dreading aging out of fear of what their future holds.
I do not regard aging as a process of deterioration. Instead,
I see it as a process of change. We have the ability and opportunity to impact
these changes favorably or unfavorably. We can do more to improve our health
and wellness than we think we can. Our goal is to be more proactive and to take
the time to educate ourselves on how we influence the development of the brain by
our thoughts, feelings, quality of life, and how we view our future.
The authors of these compelling proclamations were obviously
vibrant people who had discovered the secrets of transcending the world of
problems and conflicts and opening their minds to a higher vision of what is
possible.
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