Birthdays can be good measuring sticks. . .

Yesterday was my birthday.  Admitting my age makes me sound far older than I feel.  I was 71.  Yikes!!  And I can honestly say I don’t feel any thing close to that.  In fact, in many respects, I feel younger as the years pass.  I find that curious but I know it’s true for many others too.  Perhaps it has to do with how we are choosing to live our lives.  Enumerating what’s been different in these later years is enlightening.

For one thing, I simply am not bogged down by worry any more.  I am content with the life I am leading and feel as though I have been “called” to do what I do.  God’s will has  become clear, for now.  Second, and this one is  related to the first one, I feel passionate about my work.  Writing and speaking to groups, sharing that which others have so freely given me, makes it exciting to get up each day.  Having passion for any thing keeps one’s mind and body young.  Of this I’m certain.  As an example, having begun this blog site a few months ago has been extremely exciting and I love having a new way to reach like-minded people.

And this leads me to how I approach each day.  Following that first cup of coffee, I am involved with a women’s spirituality group each morning in a conference call.  Some mornings only 3 or 4 call in and other mornings we may have 8.  We take turns sharing a short prayer; we read a section in a spiritual book and then discuss how we are helped by the reading.  We seldom spend more than 20 or 25 minutes on the call but it’s a way to get right-minded before letting the day carry our minds into neighborhoods that aren’t  fruitful.

Four mornings each week I participate in another conference call with some business associates.  While this call leans toward business, there is definitely a spiritual overtone to it.  I feel so grateful to have two infusions of productive thinking in my life every day before I even have time to let my own ego run amuck.

And then I take an hour and a half for exercise 5 days a week.  Work calls to me next, and I move into it happily.  My mind and body have been attended to and for me, that’s key.  Having this kind of routine in my life may seem like too much structure for some but I have discovered, over the years, that routine keeps me on track. Without structure, I feel a sense of ennui too easily.

I  do believe that we each have very purposeful lives.  I have made a commitment to fulfill the purpose that has been assigned to me and I feel blessed.  I hope that you are feeling right-minded today, and if you aren’t, perhaps you can say a prayer for some one you know.  That action can change how we think more quickly than any thing else.  We are in charge of our own right-mindedness.  Are you feeling content today?