Help! I Am Getting Older

Sometime ago, my boss mentioned that it was his birthday in some weeks time. My response to him was that it means you are getting older. With a broad smile on his face, he told me he likes the fact that he was getting older. Life is funny huh-I remember how I used to form older when I was younger, I would even add to my age (covers face). Fast forward to some point later in my life , I didn’t want to talk about my age, of course I wanted to be younger. It was just like time had flown past and I was stuck somewhere.

Well as usual, the good book liberated me when I read what the good book had to say about getting older. It says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom” There and then I found the answer, the reason for the dread was because of the thoughts of underachievement.

There and then I repented, well, repent means to change your thinking in case you are wondering. My paradigm shifted, I started applying the principles I had learnt from this verse and my outlook to life changed. Each new year looked wonderful and I looked forward to adding another year without fears.

 The solution to this is to simply make each day count. A wise man once said, if the days don’t count, the year won’t add up. So here’s it: don’t wait for the next year to make a change, make changes daily. It is the sum of the days that makes the year. We have been so focused on making changes each year that eventually we make no changes. It’s called the Kaizen principle, small changes consistently make that compound to make very massive changes.

Here’s how you can look forward to every new age with so much joy and eagerness, learn the things you can control and make the best of them daily. When you have differentiated the things you can control from, don’t get worked up and anxious over the things you can’t control.Take for instance, you might not be able to control when you have a child. What you can control is the number of children from indigent backgrounds you can help.

Can we delve a bit into negativity bias? Negativity bias also known as negativity effect is the notion that, even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than neutral or positive things. Let me break it down to you, this means living life in such a way that so much attention is paid to negative occurrences in your space while forgetting every positive thing happening. Living like this can translate to very deep mental health issues like panic attacks, depression, self harm and suicide. Oftentimes, things are not as bad as they seem but the focus we give to these negative occurrences amplifies them. Do yourself a favour when life gets so overwhelming and looks like nothing is working, grab a journal and write what you are thankful for, you will be amazed to see how far you have come. That old hymn says it all: “ count your blessings, name them one by one and you will be surprised at what God has done”.

Growth has to be all round for it to be tangible. Here are some few tips to aid growth and make each day count.

1. Work on self development: You are never too old to develop yourself. Take courses,do refresher training in your area of expertise,  read up on your field of expertise daily, go for conferences/events, write that paper. Put yourself out there.
2. Support a cause: This point is a whole article on it's own. When you give kindness, you get love and fulfillment in return. I have learnt to give the most at my lowest points and before I know what’s happening, I feel much better and ready to take the world on again. Give a scholarship, volunteer somewhere, be intentionally kind to people in your space. Make it a habit to do at least one kind deed daily.
3. Take your purpose seriously: Purpose helps you to focus on what is important, it influences your choice.  God created you for a purpose, discover it and work on it.
4. Relationships: Be that person that people can count on so that you will equally have people to count on.We are designed to relate with our environment, relational skills are something to be worked on. Also don’t take your family for granted. I have seen people treat their spouses any how and revere others outside - that is not a good way to live. Give allowances for offences knowing that they will always come and learn to forgive.
5. Finances: Save, invest,when financial figures are not encouraging, it demoralizes. As a result, always remember to pay yourself first.
6. Health: You are what you eat and what you do. Adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Never forget that  it’s the daily activities that matter. Make each day count, get better daily. Learn to clarify if the outcome of something is within your power or not to prevent stressing yourself out unnecessarily.

By the way it’s my birthday today, please say a word of prayer for me. Always remember that each day is a gift, make sure you don’t send it back unopened. Cheers to making each day count.

Written by: Adeteju Adeniran

Photo Credit: Adeteju Adeniran

About the Author: Adeteju Adeniran is an internationally trained occupational health and safety professional. She loves to write on faith, hope, and lifestyle, getting her inspiration from the day to day occurrences around her.  She has an obsession with anything African print (lol). She resides in Lagos, Nigeria, where she is impacting her world, one kind deed after another.

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