{"id":7971,"date":"2025-02-14T07:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=7971"},"modified":"2025-02-14T07:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:51:09","slug":"what-we-actively-participate-in-shaping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2025\/02\/what-we-actively-participate-in-shaping\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Actively Participate in Shaping"},"content":{"rendered":"

I do most of the shopping at our house. Sometimes, I shop at Costco. Not every week, but when we\u2019re low on paper towels or cans of black beans or maybe granola, I schedule a stop. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last time, I bought dryer sheets at Costco. I recall that, as I reached for the bundle of four large boxes, a question flashed through my mind: Will I ever buy dryer sheets again? <\/span><\/p>\n

This was not a mathematical query, comparing how many times the Earth goes around the sun to how many loads of laundry I have left to do. The real question I was asking myself was, \u201cHow much longer will I be alive?\u201d Just asking the question aloud helped me to appreciate going to the market to buy food, helped me to appreciate what I usually just take for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, aging with intention can help us appreciate what we might usually take for granted. Just getting older doesn\u2019t guarantee this type of wisdom, but it does offer the possibility. It’s like the difference between floating downstream versus consciously steering your boat\u2014both will take you somewhere, but intentional aging gives you more agency in the journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conscious aging isn’t about denying the process or surrendering to it, but rather about engaging with it. This could help transform aging from something that happens to us into something we actively participate in shaping.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered if this is the last bunch of dryer sheets\u2014or the last bunch of anything\u2014that you might buy before you die? Is that too morbid a thought? Why does it feel morbid to think about something inevitable, like our own death?<\/span><\/p>\n

During the COVID lockdown, I needed some shaving cream, but my usual brands were out of stock online. I ordered what they had available (colloidal oatmeal shave cream), and it turned out to be quite good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, I used the last dryer sheet from that big bundle. This morning, as I squeezed the tube of shaving cream completely dry, I grinned a goodbye to that new friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know when it will be my last time for buying dryer sheets or shaving cream, or even waking up in the morning. We all have a last time for something. Let\u2019s embrace both the difficulties and the opportunities that aging with intention can offer us.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do most of the shopping at our house. Sometimes, I shop at Costco. Not every week, but when we\u2019re low on paper towels or cans of black beans or maybe granola, I schedule a stop.  Last time, I bought…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more What We Actively Participate in Shaping<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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