As we age, we are aware that our years are piling up and beginning to reach numbers associated with a completed life, one that started, carried on, and ended. We find stamina, surprise, and suspense declining. It seems to me that we can apply versions of the woman Byron Katie's approach to our betterment. She is the one who said she was having the time of her life watching her body fall apart. It can do so in such interesting ways. Others, such as Dr. David R. Hamilton and the American Buddhists such as Jack Kornfield, Elijah Goldsmith and Sharon Salzburg, stress the value of honest and genuine gratitude and kindness. I have gotten ideas from Chade-Meng Tan and David Eagleman and Lisa Feldman Barrett.
Professor Barrett with her books and TED talks and You-Tube videos emphasizes, as Chade-Meng Tan does, that a little meditation and a little practice can teach us how to change our moods into positive ones whenever we wish. Personally, I don't think most of us are wired to be happy and upbeat all the time. The more we learn to lift our moods when we want, the less we are in a hurry to do so when clouds, fears and serious downers arrive. We might arrive at a station in our lives where we see events and our feelings and others' feelings are adventures to experience and savor.
I suspect that the first thing many people could watch for is finger-pointing. I didn't do it, Mommy. He did it. It's their fault that my dreams have not come true. It's that other group's fault, not me and not the group I am part of. If you want to see if this might be a path to profit, just listen for acts of blaming others. Sure, the Martians have a lot to answer for but as my dad used to say, Get your own house in order first.
