What Did You Just Say?

There is just enough time for you to make that appointment, if you leave now. Grab your coat, wallet, keys. Keys! Where are your keys? Dang! Why aren’t they where they are supposed to be? The stress is shutting down your cognitive brain function. You can’t think. Where did you leave them last? They aren’t still in the car, are they? Locked in? You rush out, peer in the window. No, they are not in the car. Back in the house, you throw things around, searching frantically. Wait! There they are, sitting on the counter, pushed over to the side, but still very visible. You use lots of bad language as you grab them and rush out the door.

Senior moment. Lapse of memory. It’s your age, dearie. You’re not getting any younger. Get used to it; it is going to happen more. Is that what you tell yourself? Your brain is listening to what you say and the words you use. To make matters worse, you complain out loud, which means your ears are listening, as well. You repeat the story to someone at work, and you both commiserate about how old you feel. Now you both feel terrible, and the day has just begun.

Do you realize what you just did? You programmed your brain, through your thoughts and your speech, to age. Your belief system just sabotaged you, and you helped it. What you believe drives everything else in the body. If you exercise up the wazoo, eat right, get enough sleep, are kind to animals and small children, and continue to think that what you say to yourself doesn’t matter (because you’re just joking, right?), then don’t be surprised that you don’t move as well, slow down, lose creativity, become less flexible and/or strong, and are not as sharp or quick thinking as you used to be. And you lose your keys more.

Aging isn’t a destination; it’s a continuum. Babies age. So do teenagers, parents (babies do that to you), middle agers and people in their later life years. Everyone ages, but not everyone is old. That designation is reserved for those who believe they are aging, and that aging is a bad thing.

Me? I’m aging, same as I was 100 years ago. When I lose my keys, I swear a lot, bang things about, then encourage my executive brain function to kick in and tell me where those f#&@ keys are. And that has nothing to do with my age.

That’s Aging Intelligently.