The Autumn years.
June 30th, 2011 → 12:32 pm @ Shanti
The autumn years.
Hello again.
Here I want to give a message to those, who have been here a little longer than some.
We often call it the Autumn years.
I spent the last 5 months here in Victoria, Australia, where the weather is very different to what I am used to. I have lived in a warm climate up north for many years and I did not remember the seasons to be so amazing in a cooler climate.
There are hot summers, cooler spring and autumn times and cold winters. As the seasons change, the trees let you know that winter is coming. They change their foliage and it looks great. This is autumn or fall for my friends in the States.
Well my lovely people, once we reach our autumn years, we should be so happy, because the time has come to celebrate the colours of our life.
I have taken so many photos of the changing colours during the last few months. I have seen the slow changes from yellows to reds and eventually the falling of the leaves. These trees look beautiful and start to rest, during winter, for another flush in a few months. That flush will be light green and darkens as the summer approaches, to be there for us to enjoy in many ways. We can look at them and see the beautiful colours of green, which is a very relaxing colour,( used by colour therapists,) we can sit in the shade under their canopy to keep cool and shortly after, some trees bear fruits for us to enjoy and to feed us for health.
What I am saying, the autumn colours are an indication of the beauty of this period. The trees look great and are so enjoyable. People who are getting on a little, must never think of HOW OLD THEY ARE, but always remember the good feeling of life and everything it gives and has given you in the past. Now you have more time to enjoy your life and the grandchildren etc., these must be happy days. Forget your little quirks and enjoy life to the fullest. Make it all count and that will extend your life. No more:”…I am …years (and the dreaded word) old”.
Never think of yourself as being old, but forget he ages, just live and be happy. Celebrate your day of birth, instead of how many years you have been. That does not matter. I read a beautiful series of books, called “The Ringing Cedars Of Russia, and in one of the books, the great-grandfather of Anastasia was at the end of his life. At 140 odd years, he just came to say goodbye and walked away, to go and die in the bush. No fuss, just the accepted thing to do, as his faculties were failing and there was no reason to go on. All his body-cells were starting to fail in their duties to maintain his health all over and he knew it. So only then he decided to call it a day. This was not because he was a certain age, it was due to the fact he could not support life any longer in a satisfactory way. Up to this day, he would still walk and come to see Anastasia, be it walking slowly, but all was well enough for that visit.
This is where we must get away from society’s pressures and do things our own way. I have decided to do just that. When my time comes to pass over, I will drive to a place where I feel at one with Mother Earth, park the car and leave a message in he car for whoever finds it. Walk into the bush, as far as I can, not through tracks, but pushing away branches etc, till I come to a place, where I feel I can go to rest forever. I do not want to be found. I do not want a grave or my body cremated and the ashes kept. No, I want to be remembered as Shanti, who was a friend and loved every body and I want the right to go home by myself, back to where I came from: Mother Earth.
Remembering people with gravestones or any other reminders, does not allow that person to die and go back peacefully. I even think, that the crosses people wear, remembering Jesus Christ, is not allowing Him to really die. (My opinion). Going back to visit a grave, on occasions, is not doing anything for that person, because there is only the remains of a body in that grave, not the spirit, who is the real person after all. It hurts people, when they go to a grave. They cry and sob and all the while they feel sad. Why?
That person is someone they loved and remembering him/her alive is so much more positive. Surely, that person doesn’t want us to be sad? We can talk about our relative who passed over at home and remember the nice things we did together, the laughter and joyous times we had together. Isn’t that how it should be? I want to be remembered that way. The ways I helped others out of love; the good times we had with family and friends and strangers for that matter. I have a ball meeting people these days and have great conversations with them about anything and everything. I feel young and get on with the younger generation. They keep me young at heart and I still get a little extra heartbeat when I see a young lady, who is nice to me. Why not? We have our eyes to see and if we see something or someone pretty, why not admire her? We have our eyes to see things and if these things are nice, so much better for our mind. No I am not a dirty old man, I have the same feeling about all creation. I love being in the bush and admire nature, the trees, the flowers and the animals; all these are my friends and I admire them all. So age has nothing to do with the old or the new. I just picked a few stems of Narcissus and I am sitting here enjoying the slight perfume that drifts from them into my nose for my enjoyment. Really natural perfume, no additives from man. Beautiful! We should always be there on the spot to love and to be loved by people and Nature. I just love all of it and I am waiting desperately to get back on the road, to enjoy all these creations again. I have been here in this one spot for 7 months, but I had to. I had to be close to my publisher and I will always be thankful for him coming into my life and being there for me. I will have to do some real soul searching when I leave, to get back on track with all the beauty around. I have become a couch potato and I feel unhealthy, not walking or being able to ride my bike. It is just too cold for me and any amount of clothes I put on, don’t seem enough to keep me comfortable.
I am going to enjoy myself as I have been doing, since I have been on the road for over 2 years. I miss the people there, who are all young at heart. They don’t talk about their ages. They just move on regardless. I have met people well into their eighties and still camp out at night as if that is the norm. Beautiful! Lets look at your situation. If you are a person, who lives in a house and do the regular things people do, shopping, watching TV, going out to dinner and see friends on occasions etc., what can you do to improve your quality of life. You could be as happy as a pig in …(you know what). Okay, that’s fine and you may not want to change your life, BUT this life is not terribly fulfilling. You are not achieving much and sitting down a lot is not going to make you any healthier. Yes, the grand children are going to wear you out, but that is only because you have no energy, due to your lifestyle. I know older people who sit all day and can hardly move when they do walk. That’s not right, but that is what they want. I mentioned in my book on a number of occasions, that you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. That `horse` will eventually die from thirst and not from old age. One older gentleman told me the other day, that there is absolutely nothing to watch on TV and it is all crap. I agreed, but he is the one who sits there all day, watching the TV.
We naturally must move our bodies to keep it healthy, as I mentioned in the book earlier. It is the norm to do that. So maybe I can slowly move you in the right direction and start with a little bit at the time. Just a little walk around the garden or around the block and while you are there doing that, enjoy the views of nature and talk to some people. Don’t rush it, but make a concerted effort to really take it all in. Smell the roses along the way as most of the home grown ones still have a perfume. I know the ones you buy for a friend from the florist are dead, nothing!
Each day, go a little further and faster and admit that the TV was a waste of time anyway. You can watch some more rubbish later on if you really want to. I do not have TV and if something happens I need to know, I will hear it down the road somewhere, but most news items are not really of any significance. What difference does it make to most people if a train derailed in Algiers? Except the families of people who may have been killed, nobody really cares, but that is what is in the news hour. Every night there is a house burnt down, a person bashed up, a sportsman given his/her marching orders and the weather forecast is nearly always wrong. So…? Lets give it a break and live your life to the fullest, with your loving family beside you. So often there is no communication in a home, because of the TV. It has first priority all the time. Even when friends come over for a drink, the TV is always on and the conversation has to be held over the top of that noise. TVs are in all rooms of the house and even outside in entertainment areas. You cannot escape them. That square eye! Brrr!
Anyway, you must make up your mind yourself as I can only advise you, something I do out of love for you. I have seen too much misery not to pass this on to you and I am sure that deep down in your heart, you agree with me on a lot of these subjects. Maybe you just want to be tough and say:”What has that to do with him, what I do?” Absolutely nothing at all, but I like to see you healthy and not be a burden on society through the health schemes and the doctors’ services, something we all pay for in our taxes.
I hope I have stirred something up in you and I know when you read this and you go mad, it proves that I am right. Try to keep a straight face if you can and even if you do, inside you are all stirred up. Aren’t you? See you next time. I do love you as brothers and sisters, Shanti.
