Nature's Cycles

In nature, the withering of the flower is as important as its blooming. They are both phenomena which are a part of a series of changes called Cause and Effect. In a sentient being, such as man, there is an idealizing of one of these changes more than of the other.

Man arbitrarily divides nature’s cycles, calling the beneficial phase positive and the other, negative. He seeks to evade the decline because it is unpleasant to him. He has successfully prolonged life but he can never evade the eventual retrogression which must follow to complete the cycle of life.

As one grows older, one should, of course, endeavour in every way to lessen the severity of the impact of physical deterioration. The former pleasures of living in the physical sense, which have meant so much, should be mitigated in later years by new mental and emotional satisfactions.

In the mellowness of life, new positive living may be found in a response to the higher sentiments and psychic inclinations. The aggressive healthy younger person often finds too many satisfactions in objective living to concern himself deeply with the mysteries of life. The cosmic role that one should play in his relationship to all reality, however, usually provides a greater satisfaction to the mature mind. The physical desires which once seemed ultra-important and the notions and things associated with them lose their lustre with the passing of the years. One finds to a greater extent that the pleasures associated with them were either illusionary or evanescent. The interests of a psychic or moral nature which seemed intangible in the past and, by contrast to material satisfaction, less stimulating, can be more assuredly cultivated in the later years. One will then find much happiness in the expression of his aesthetic tastes which may have been unawakened or unexpressed.

Instead of becoming embittered by the advance of age and its gradual physical retardment, one should reorient his interests. He should venture into the realm of his psychic inclinations and meditations. He should find in life images or symbols to objectify the reactivated feelings of impersonal love and sympathy that pour from the depth of his own being as he allows himself to be conscious of the more subtle impulses of his nature.

Detach your consciousness from the myriad changes, the events and happenings in the stream of life. Stop struggling with the tide, for a time at least. Climb up on the bank and watch the course of life which in itself has majesty and beauty. It will evoke our admiration of its pulsating power and omniscience.

- Author Unknown