“You get old when your heart stop beating and just because then there’s nothing else you can do.” My grandfather used to say that every time someone would refer to aging and how awful it feels some times. He lived eighty-six years to proof his theory. His wife aged with grace, in between soft fabrics, baby cheeks always blushed, and a mild pink on her lips.
In many cultures around the world, aging is the sign of the wise, the pick of maturity when all the skills and knowledge of life come together. In some others like our Western, modernized culture, aging is seemed as decay, the end of life itself where fun, adventure, and even love are not allowed anymore.
The ancient people knew better and we lost that knowledge. For the Pagans, there is a Crone, the wise women. She deserves respect and reverence after undergoing and successfully experienced all the stages of life. She is the voice of wisdom, the counselor, and the teacher. She exemplifies dignity, grace, and youthful beauty through her wrinkles and age spots. She is the perfect balance of life itself.
I like to apply this stage to both men and women who have gone through life living it to the fullest.
In times when we are in so much need for guidance, it would be enlightening to pay attention to our elders and listen to their messages of wisdom. It would be beneficial for all to embrace aging as the highest virtue and profound gift to be shared with those facing the many challenges of the present world.
Aging is not to be feared, not to feel sadness with the images we see reflected in the mirror. It is to be celebrated. It is the sacred moment given to us to be grateful for the many nights and days we have been able to enjoy. It is not to retrieve and spent our lives in front of the window observing how days goes by, but about daring ourselves not to let our inner child perish. Aging is the time of expressing the love that consumes—the supreme feeling of unconditional giving, where love is simply what it is, without chains, excessive attachments, or conditions.
Knowing that her time on this earth was coming to an end, my grandmother looked at me while holding my grandpa’s hand, the same hand she had held for more than half a century. Tears of joy ran through her still blushed cheeks when she said these words: “This is all it is. Life is meant to be lived. Always embrace every moment.”
At forty-four, I have decided to follow her advice. I went through my Maiden stage with no regrets. I am enjoying the joys and sorrows of the Mother and with the first signs of the passing of time; I am fully prepared to become the wise Crone life wants me to be. I am aging gracefully and in a total grateful state.
