yes, please
i met the most fascinating couple the other day...vibrant, alive, truly interested (which made them interesting), learners, active, funny...and in their 80's! in fact, the gentleman was 89 and they had only been married (to each other after each of their spouses passed away) for 8 years. that means he got married again at age 81!
what struck me most was how much more energy i had after our interaction than before. nothing about them was draining. and they were both whole people who brought a complete self to the relationship. they didn't need to say this, i just sensed it.
not only that, but they didn't take themselves too seriously. and they were kind. one of the reasons i met them in the first place was because they were in our neck of the woods because of kindness: they had let another couple go ahead of them in a line who ended up winning a great prize. not only did they not complain ("that should have been ours!") but were pleasantly surprised when the couple in front of them turned around, thanked them for their kindness, and invited them along to share in the prize!
we talked for quite a while and not once did they bemoan a single thing. in fact, i've known folks 20 years younger than them who act 20 years older. this is not to say that i'm sure they don't feel the gravity and effects of aging, but they were so positive, so very absolutely alive that you wouldn't have known their age if they hadn't told me. yes, please. this is who i want to be.
a friend of mine wrote me recently that a rich life is made up of the following: giving & receiving, learning & teaching, rest & action, change & stability and that we will go in and out of all of the quadrants in each season.
what about your life do you hope to model to others, leaving them more energized than when you met?
what struck me most was how much more energy i had after our interaction than before. nothing about them was draining. and they were both whole people who brought a complete self to the relationship. they didn't need to say this, i just sensed it.
not only that, but they didn't take themselves too seriously. and they were kind. one of the reasons i met them in the first place was because they were in our neck of the woods because of kindness: they had let another couple go ahead of them in a line who ended up winning a great prize. not only did they not complain ("that should have been ours!") but were pleasantly surprised when the couple in front of them turned around, thanked them for their kindness, and invited them along to share in the prize!
we talked for quite a while and not once did they bemoan a single thing. in fact, i've known folks 20 years younger than them who act 20 years older. this is not to say that i'm sure they don't feel the gravity and effects of aging, but they were so positive, so very absolutely alive that you wouldn't have known their age if they hadn't told me. yes, please. this is who i want to be.
a friend of mine wrote me recently that a rich life is made up of the following: giving & receiving, learning & teaching, rest & action, change & stability and that we will go in and out of all of the quadrants in each season.
what about your life do you hope to model to others, leaving them more energized than when you met?
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