>Everyone is aging whether they want to or not! Retaining some of our creative potential and flexibility is what we should be after in our work on stopping the aging process.
In ancient China, The Tao Te Ching proclaimed that: ” Whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow, whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.” ( Chopra, p. 51)
Hundreds of books have been written on aging and longevity.
The aging process seems to have no rules. For some of us, aging is steady, uniform, and slow, while for others it is an unseen cliff with a sharp decline in the last year or two of life.
The fact that aging is so personal, has been proven very frustrating to medicine. And that is why it is so difficult to treat many of the major conditions associated with aging.
There are 3 ages of Man:
Chronological- how old you are by the calendar
Biological– How old your body is in terms of critical life signs
Psychological- how old you feel you are!
Negative Factors that can Accelerate the Aging Process:
Depression
Inability to express emotions
Feeling helpless to change oneself and others
Living alone
Loneliness, absence of close friends
Lack of regular daily routine
Rack of regular work routine
Job dissatisfaction
Having to work more than 40 hours a week
Financial burden, being in debt
Habitual or excessive worry
Regret for sacrifices made in the past
Irritability, getting angry easily, or being unable to express anger
Criticism of self and others
Positive Factors that Retard Aging
Happy marriage ( or satisfying long-term relationship)
Job satisfaction
Feeling of personal happiness
Ability to laugh easily
Satisfactory sex life
Ability to make and keep close friends
Regular daily routine
Regular work routine
Taking at least one week’s vacation every year
Feeling in control of personal life
Enjoyable leisure time, satisfying hobbies
Ability to express feelings easily
Optimism about the future
Feeling financially secure
Living within means
Chopra, D (1993) Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old. New York, NY. Random Books