We’re the Lucky Ones

Sweet Bites for October 25, 2024

Hi all,

Welcome to another edition of Sweet Bites, Mind Candy’s bite-sized newsletter with thought-provoking finds to send you into the weekend with.

Any of the below bites resonate? Hit the reply button and let me know.

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🦉 Wisdom Bites

The following Wisdom Bites come from the orator Cicero and the the recent How to Grow Old:

“Personally, I would rather be old for a shorter time than to be old too soon.”

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“Wantonness and lust are more common in the young than in the old, yet they are not found in all youth, just those of poor character.”

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“How wonderful it is for the soul when – after so many struggles with lust, ambition, strife, quarreling, and other passions – these battles are at last ended and it can return, as they say, to live within itself. There is no greater satisfaction to be had in life than a leisurely old age devoted to knowledge and learning.”

📰 Article Worthy of a Read

Rather than fearing getting old, here’s how to embrace it by Berit Lewis 

Favorite Passages:

“Whatever your age, improved attentional control will help you choose your focus, but it is also a particularly beneficial skill in later life when our minds tend to get more easily distracted.”

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“If you can approach your increasing age with awareness, acceptance and affection, you will be better able to adapt and flow with the changes of life. Accepting the things you cannot change is not straightforward, but you can learn to master this acceptance over time – at least to some extent.”

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“To truly be able to face the unpleasantries of life, you need to be kind and forgiving to yourself.”

📚 This Week’s Monday Meditation

✏️ This Week’s Wednesday Wisdom

📖 Poetry

On Aging by Maya Angelou

When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don’t think I need your chattering.
I’m listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise I’ll do without it!
When my bones are stiff and aching,
And my feet won’t climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don’t bring me no rocking chair.
When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don’t study and get it wrong.
‘Cause tired don’t mean lazy
And every goodbye ain’t gone.
I’m the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

You can pair this with Maya Angelou discussing the benefits of aging and why it’s special.

🛠️ Tactic

In Big Think’s video below, the poet and essayist Robert Pinsky talks about how aging opens us up to deeper levels of ourselves and the world. As we age, we begin to better understand the world through the experiences we’ve had, life takes on new meaning as our friends come and go, and we begin to better understand our parents as we ourselves age to levels we remember them at.

🕺🏼 Experience

I still remember seeing this clip nearly a decade ago and thinking how refreshing it was. The actress Frances McDormand puts a spin on aging by embracing each wrinkle and tying it back to the life she’s lived.

Thanks for reading. Did any of these bites resonate with you? If so, hit reply and let me know.

Think someone you know would enjoy these? Hit below to forward and spread the love.

Until next time,

D.A. DiGerolamo

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