AGE

It got me thinking. Birthday… the day after another year of age.

But what if you take the word age apart and look at it differently?

LIFE-TIME.

The time you are alive. And that made me think a little deeper. What do you actually do with that time?

Or, in other words: What have you lived during that time?

When someone asks you: “How old are you?” You give them a number. But that number is actually already in the past, because on your birthday you begin a new year. And then there is that word: OLD.

A word that has often been given a negative connotation in our society. Being old seems to be considered less desirable, less attractive, less interesting than being young. But why? It is something we are unconsciously taught. We hear it so often that we stop questioning it.

At official institutions, they politely ask: “What is your age?”

I feel like answering — and maybe next time I actually will: “My life-time?”

“𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦-𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘥. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 67 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘔𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶?”

The person behind the counter would probably look at me rather strangely.

But essentially, that is what it comes down to. We are given time to live. However long or short that time may be. And ultimately, we are the ones who fill that time. So perhaps the question isn't how many years you have. The question is: What are you doing with the years you have?

What do you do for others?

What do you do for yourself?

Where do you place your attention?

What experiences do you want to have?

What emotions do you want to feel?

Because when you begin to fill your time differently, the way you look at the world changes too. And perhaps, as a result, the world around you changes. Not because you simply think something and the universe immediately makes it happen, but because what you feel, where you place your attention, and the beliefs from which you live influence the choices you make, the people you connect with, and the reality you experience.

And that is where it becomes really interesting for me. Because perhaps this life-time is not only about what you say or what you think. It is also about what you feel. Emotion is a language our body understands very well. And perhaps this is something we should learn much more about: the relationship between our thoughts, our emotions, our body, our consciousness and the world around us. Quantum physics explained in ordinary human language should, in my opinion, become part of education.

Not to turn it into a new belief system. But to make people more curious about themselves. About consciousness. About what actually happens when a human being thinks, feels, chooses and acts. Because ultimately, we all have something in common.

We have been given life-time. No one knows exactly how much. But we can decide how we fill that time.

So… Not: “How old are you?” But: “How have you lived your life-time?”

And perhaps that is a much more interesting question:

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?