Letting Go

How can we defy aging? Paradoxically, by accepting it. Those elders who age well are specifically the ones who do not deny its costs.

For example, the elderly widow has a choice: She can lament her aloneness, or reach out to others. She can rail against death, or express gratitude for the years of togetherness with her deceased husband.

A more difficult, but still similar loss is that experienced by bereaved parents of a child killed by illness or war. They can turn bitter and withdrawn, or memorialize their child through giving to others.

Loss is extremely painful. Human loss is excruciating. It takes strength and courage to transform one's loss into compassion.