Old Age and Letting Go

In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves. —  Simone de Beauvoir.

After my fall, my hospital stay, and my recent milestone birthday I have given aging a lot of thought. Maria Popova writes today about how to “honor the unfolding of life without a punitive clinging to past selves” and one of her favorite books of 2022 Nick Cave’s, Faith, Hope and Carnage. I won’t repeat her observations except the following that strikes home:

“Moving through the stages of life and meeting each on its own terms is the supreme art of living — the ultimate test of self-respect and self-love. Often, what most blunts our vitality is the tendency for the momentum of a past stage to steer the present one, even though our priorities and passions have changed beyond recognition.”

The above gave me some insight into my own emotions. I know that my priorities and passions are changing dramatically, but my difficulty is letting go of the former me. How do I  accomplish this doesn’t come readily to mind, and will require some long conversations with God. It is he who brought me to this place in life, now what does he expect of me?

 

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About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.