A Secret
by C. D.
There are many a times when I am asked by strangers or friends ..my age, the first immediate next question I get is, what is my secret of reaching such a graceful age of eighty?
Simple.. first of all, I am an early riser ever since my younger school days. On weekends, I take my early morning walks close to the beach for about an hour. On weekdays I walk during the afternoon around 5pm. My walks these days are not brisk but casual. The fresh sea breeze, nature and birds chirping away always keeps my mind and soul at ease. Occasionally, I would meet up with regular walkers and have a general conversation.
I also sometimes take interesting pictures of nature around me and send them to my grandchildren in order to keep my communication alive with them. If they do not respond some days, I would message them ‘Remember me?’. Immediately, responses would come through. Grandchildren are the love of my life, after my wife, of course!
There are times, I silence my mobile and manage to take power naps in the afternoon after my lunch.
Life is never a bed of roses! Stress and depression is one thing which I do have difficulties to get over. I do make every effort to neglect the negativity of a problem and look at the bright side as much as possible - but it is never so easy. There are times I feel blessed to be living at my age but when a serious problem arises, then I think.. no way! I am not blessed. Depression effects my health condition so I am very cautious on how I live my life daily.
Dalai Lama, when he was asked what surprised him most about humanity, he answered “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money, then he sacrifices his money in order to recuperate his health. He is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present, the result being that he does not live in the present or the future. He lives as if he is never going to die, and dies having never really lived.”
So in order for me to comfortably live day by day…during evenings, nursing a G&T (the real secret) in my hand, I relax watching TV with my wife before dinner. Bedtime is normally between 9 and 10pm.