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An age-old longing
“To the present day computer-oriented youth, the wisdom of old age is a myth. Society has relegated elders to a back seat. Never in the history of mankind has society paid so much homage to youth.”
By V.R. Amarasingam
Man's greatest desire is to have perfect health. If our health is poor, many of our activities are impaired. Age-related physical symptoms raise their ugly head in middle age and continue to occur throughout old age. These along with the demands of our modern lifestyle cause psychological problems.

Middle age is said to be the youth of old age. No other period in life is longer than old age. There are many mileposts in ageing: Middle age is roughly around 50 years. This is a period where the individual wants to climb the economic and social ladder. In Sri Lanka, the age of retirement is generally around 60. But the loss of a job can cause many economic and psychological problems and unless one's skills can be channelled into avenues which bring satisfaction, frustration can lead to depression and greater physical ailments.

To the present day computer-oriented youth, the wisdom of old age is a myth. Society has relegated elders to a back seat and even in some family circles the elders are polarized. Never in the history of mankind has society paid so much homage to youth.
Most elders long for physical health, independent living, mobility without dependence on others, security and to live with close relatives when life ebbs.

But with old age, usually comes illness and how we deal with it influences our lives and the lives of those around us. No two persons are the same. There is a biology of an individual as well as a biology of the disease each affecting the other. Anything that offers hope has the potential to heal including thoughts, suggestions and feelings.

If your doctor gives you a time limit on your terminal illness or says that you have to live with your illness, even if it is true, your healing gets retarded since you believe that you are beyond healing. We should live above the circumstances, not under them.
Man has a body and we should look after its basic needs. Balanced diet, exercise and rest are a must.

Medicine too must go beyond the material and the whole man must be healed and not just cured. The nervous, immune and hormone systems have links with our brain. If our thoughts are positive, the brain changes them into chemicals and sends them to our body pharmacy which prepares the best medicine and despatches them to the affected part where healing take place.

Positive thoughts always work in a matrix of forgiveness and love. The old proverb talks of "a healthy mind in a healthy body". The greatest gift that any elder can have is to enhance life for others through our enthusiasm for life.

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