Your Ageless Spirit

0:00And the title of this mini-podcast is Your Ageless Spirit. We all age, that part's unavoidable, but some of us refuse to admit it, which brings up the age-old question, what exactly is old? Most of the time old simply means older than me. Then there's that old saying the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. In other words, maybe the body has passed its physical peak, but the Spirit? The Spirit doesn't seem to age at all. My grandmother had a wonderful answer when someone asked, how are you doing? She'd say, I'm getting old. Notice, she never said she was old, just that she was getting there. My mother was a little less delicate. When asked the same question, she'd say, not bad for an old broad. Both of them stayed very much in touch with their age with Spirit right up until their final days. They understood something important. There's mostly a mindset.

1:00I've always had great rapport with older women. And I think it started when I was in the fourth grade. Let me explain. The school I attended had a raffle every fall, and every student was expected to sell tickets. First, you'd sell your mother, your father, your aunts, uncles, grandparents, maybe a few neighbors, but eventually you'd run out of relatives. And that means you have to knock on doors and ask strangers. Now, for a fourth grade or that can feel a little intimidating. So my dad gave me a strategy. Before I tell you what it was, remember, back then most women didn't work outside the home. They were known as a term I've come to dislike quite a bit, housewives. My father said the person answering the door would most likely be a woman. But he told me not to start with, would you like to buy a raffle ticket for my school? Instead, he said my first question should be, is your mother home? No matter how old the woman at the door was, that's the question I was supposed to ask.

2:03Well, that year I sold more raffle tickets than anyone in my class. What my father had really done was teach me a little piece of stealth flattery. I was speaking to the ageless spirit in each of those women. And over the years it grew into something more than flattery. I found myself talking to older people, women and men, the same way I talked to people my own age. I never treated them as old. I never assumed they wouldn't understand what I was saying, or they'd be shocked by something I might casually say to someone of my own generation. Older people do not need to be protected. They've lived longer than you, they've survived more than you can imagine. Being them is somehow less of a citizen because of their age is demeaning. In fact, I've developed a habit of asking older people their opinion when I was wrestling with the decision. And the wisdom that pours out of them is priceless. Now, sure, you're going to find some older folks who only want to talk about their health,

3:05their prescriptions, and how everything used to be better back in the day. But honestly, you'll find people like that in every adult age group. Once you get past the chronic complainers, you often discover a treasure of perception that may not be obvious at first glance. But if you assume they don't know anything, you'll never ask. And you'll stay a little poor for it. So let me suggest something. Find your own version of that fourth grade question. Is your mother home? And you may discover a real mother load of spirited wisdom from some ageless people in their golden years. All the best, John.