I remember Bryan Adams singing “I wanna be 18 till I die”. And I see many movie stars and celebrities in their 60s and 70s now, trying hard to maintain a younger version look of theirs, while they have lost the luster in the skin and the hair; their bones have lost the thickness, and the muscle mass has shrunk quitesome. The modern world offers Botox injections to remove facial wrinkles, the hair restoration surgeries and many other diet and exercises to make them look younger than they do. The fact is that, we are all getting old; and gotten old rather. And we can never hide that reality. It is necessary to embrace the reality of old age or senior adulthood, if you want to call it so. The sooner we accept the reality, the better it gets to face the remaining life.
There are discussions on the mainstream media over the recent looks of John Travolta and the recent appearance of Madonna, who were once upon a time seen as heartthrobs; now looking like senior citizens; well, they are. They must be respected for their seniority; but there is nothing much to learn from them for leading a life of awareness. They’ve been entertainers and skillful presenters. But they are in need of a spiritual guide to make their life more purposeful. Well, in that sense, we all are in need of a strong mentor to lead a peaceful life.
Let’s first address the issue of youthfulness. Every soul wants to look young and dashing. And every soul wants to live life longer with all the things that quench its desire. But the ones who are enlightened understand that the youthfulness will come back to them after they die and get resurrected to life again. Hence their focus is to do things that will make their transition easy to the next life. But for those who have no faith in the after life, this world is all they got to score. They work hard to make everything possible for this world. But eventually, they will not be able to achieve what they want.
If we need to find the spiritual guide, we can find great lessons from the teachings of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and all the great prophets who lived before them (may peace be upon all of them). They were grounded on to the reality of life. And hence they found peace in this world. They were able to look at the grey hair and smile at their wrinkles with the acumen that allowed them to praise God for all the blessings they got. God has promised to give back life and body, with vigour and strength once again; and peace and serenity for all those who submit to His will in this world. Everyone’s got that option. And God’s promise will come to be soon, God-willing.
So work to look good. That’s a good act in itself. But accept the truth of the age that is ticking ahead. Love everything that you’ve got. Being a senior citizen is in itself a privilege. There is nothing to hide there. Good day.
Written by: Umar Shariff
(President, DIET)
