Simplicity, Joy and Mystery: A Guide to Growing Up, Not Old

By Joan S. Mishra

Drawing on the thoughts of spiritual masters and great thinkers, this book will inspire you to actually look forward to your second half of life as a time of increased simplicity and joy. You will learn ways to become stronger and healthier as you increase in years without the use of drugs. And you will discover methods of clearing your mind, so you will feel more cheerful and present.

The author wanted to envision this uplifting picture not only for those who are currently at that time of life, but also for those who are relatively young. She feels the current depiction of people over 50 in the media is often disheartening. Nearly every commercial during the national news, for example, shows older people needing drugs for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, bladder or erectile dysfunction, or Alzheimer's disease, to name a few. She felt sad to think of the younger generation imagining themselves headed down that path towards such a dark future.

Advancing in years does not need to mean decreasing our good health, losing interest in learning new things, becoming useless to others, or turning weak-minded. It can be a time of vibrancy, increase service to others, and deeper spiritual wisdom. The choice is up to us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joan S. Mishra
• Release date: Jan 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465855947

Joan S. Mishra

Joan S. Mishra holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Education from Boston University. She has over thirty years of experience teaching English in community colleges and piano (according to the Suzuki Method) in her private studio. For five years, she was the founder and director of Allegro Conservatory, a music-based preschool in Houston, Texas. She is the author of two other books, Widening Our Circle and Your Preschooler Discovers the Fine Arts, available through major booksellers online. Currently, she lives in Austin, TX.

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Simplicity, Joy and Mystery

A Guide to Growing Up, Not Old

By Joan S. Mishra

Copyright Joan S. Mishra 2012

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Cover design by Courtney Craig

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Within a person there is an effulgence of God…Along with this light of God, there is so much joy. The purpose of human life is to attain that joy. Swami Muktananda

Preface

The feeling behind the phrase, growing old, or the term, aging, is so much different than the sensation associated with the expression, growing up. Doesn't the idea of growing old or aging sound discouraging? Who would want to do that? On the other hand, when we were children, we all looked forward to reaching the next age or grade. We glowed with self-satisfaction when someone told us that we looked more grown-up.

Most likely the reason we don't look forward to growing older over fifty is that we fear it means gradually decreasing our good health, losing interest in learning new things, becoming useless to others, turning weak-minded, or a host of other negativities. However, that stage of our life doesn't need to be that way. It can be a time of vibrant health, increased usefulness, and deeper spiritual wisdom.

The tricky part is it doesn't just happen by itself; we have to become more conscious about how to grow up in order to not just grow old. Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Mark Liponis in their recent book, Ultra Prevention, state, All of us want to die as old as possible feeling as young as possible; we want to be in perfect health until we're one hundred, then go to sleep and not wake up. That's not such an impossible wish. But to accomplish it, you have to work at it.

Most essential to this sense of growing up are good health practices. This may mean changing our daily habits and diets. As Buddha once said, To keep the body in good health is a duty…Otherwise, we will not be able to keep the mind strong and clear. If we put some energy into keeping our body healthy, we'll not only be rewarded with good health, but we will also have the ability to develop inner strength. Wouldn't you love to be a healthy grandparent or pillar of the community who can be relied upon for advice, tranquility and deep affection for the rest of your life?

I want to envision this uplifting picture not only for those who are currently at that time of life, but also for those who are relatively young. I feel the current depiction of people over 50 in the media is often disheartening. Nearly every commercial during the national news, for example, shows older people needing drugs for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, bladder or erectile dysfunction, or Alzheimer's, to name a few. I hate to think of the younger generation imagining themselves headed down that path towards such a dark future.

In case you are beginning to feel skeptical about the optimistic premise of this book, consider the example of the Tarahumara Indians, an ancient tribe that lives in the canyons of northeastern Mexico. They are especially remarkable for their ability to run long distances between villages. (You can read more about them in Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run.) It is common knowledge in their culture that the older members of the tribe are better athletes than the younger ones. This was actually verified by a team from Harvard University that took various physiological measurements for fitness and determined that the sixty-year-olds were more fit than the forty-year-olds, and the forty-year-olds more fit than the twenty-year-olds. How astounding is that! I am not suggesting we all become long distance runners. I only want to let you know becoming weaker as the years pass is not the norm in other cultures, and it doesn't need to be the case for us either.

When we truly grow up, we become more spontaneous and child-like, in the most positive sense of the word. Thich Nhat Hanh, the revered Vietnamese Buddhist monk, wrote, I was born to live ten thousand lives with the heart of a child. And Jesus reminded us that children's nature is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14). It is one of life's most amazing mysteries that the more evolved we become, the more we return to remembering our innate childish sense of wonder, gratitude, love and freedom.

The concepts in this book are derived from observing some of the admirable older people around me, from my own experience, and from a variety of health-related, psychological/spiritual books that are listed in the Suggested Reading section at the back of the book. . Paragraphs in bold print are short descriptions of real people's experiences. I hope you will feel encouraged and inspired by their examples! Also, if you would like to read more on related subjects, go to my blog site, Growup-notold.com.

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Chapter 1: Simplicity

Ideally, one of the beauties of the later part of life is that life becomes simpler. We are no longer responsible for children and pets; we often have left our jobs; we have smaller houses and fewer possessions. In Indian yogic philosophy, the final stage of life involves giving up all material goods and devoting oneself to meditation, even going so far as adopting the life of a wandering monk. Now that is true simplicity! Most of us do not want to take simplicity that far, but whatever we can do in the last quarter of life to become freer and simpler, will enhance our