Peace Harmony and Joy

Sunday 14 December 2014

Mindset Over Age - Positive Thoughts Go A Long Way

It always seems my Blog gets more views than the source of this article so I've added it here.

This past month has been full of experiences at work that I felt impelled to write about it. I work for a company and help people with vulnerabilities. This can be age, health or low income related. Most of this is done over the phone where a lot about a person's state of mind can be found out during our conversation.
There will always be people that feel down due to one of the above but what really makes me smile is the amount of people that think positively regardless of their situation. Two that stood out for me recently were an 84 year old lady that had just returned from a 2 mile walk. She mentioned that it shocked her earlier that day to realise she was now 84. She said that others may be expecting her to slow down but she had no intentions of doing that. The other was an 80 year old lady. She honestly sounded like she was 30. When I mentioned this to her she said that she had long blonde hair, a slim body and wore up to date clothes so there was no reason for people to think she was a fuddy duddy 80 year old.

I love having conversations like that with customers. It shows that age is just a number. It's how you feel inside that matters - not how old you are. This happens time and time again in my job. In fact some take umbrage that they are called vulnerable due to their age. When I advise the only way we know if they truly are is by speaking to them then they are okay with it.

I have even found customers that have such massive health problems which may include them being on mains powered medical appliances but they always believe that someone may be worse off so they get on with their day without complaining. On the other side there are people that feel the world has done them a disservice. They feel depressed and stuck in a dark place feeling like victims. To them every day is the same and there feels no way out for them. Sometimes I hear they have been on antidepressants for years and never sent for any kind of counselling. I think this is a disgrace as we should be trying to help these people get back to a normal life.

Life for all of us is made of up and downs. If we look at what we learn in a down period we can apply this to our life to increase the amount of up periods that we have. I do not focus after work on all the customers that are so down although every so often one can really affect me. I listen to see if I can point them in any direction to help them and move on. This type of job is not for everyone I can assure you. Instead at the end of each day I think of anything that stood out in a positive way. This is what I take home with me rather than feeling dragged down by all the doom and gloom.

Getting back to age though I can often speak to someone in their 50's or 60's who truly sound as if they are 90. They have perhaps retired and have nothing to do with their lives. They already have closed mindsets that they cannot learn new technology because they are too old! I told a customer last week that if I had £1 for everyone that mentioned they may not still be on this earth next year that I would be very rich. It's a shame that people feel this way as they are wishing away their lives rather than finding things to enjoy in it.

I had a lady recently who came to one of my reiki workshops. Her plan had been to learn reiki when she retired later this year. I asked why wait till then and she has learned it before retiral. She has already thought of what she wishes to do in retirement and will be working through her level 2 in the future. The main thing I believe is to have extra interests outside of work or home before you retire. That way you can still have things to look forward to when it is time to move on.

Life should not stop until we are no longer of this earth. Every day we are alive we should make sure we are actually taking part in it. Like my 84 year old lady take a walk or a hike in nature. If your health restricts you take up a hobby. Nowadays there are many groups that can collect you and take you to places to meet other like minded people.

To all those that have the positive mindset I take my hat off to you. You know how to get the most out of life and are probably enjoying yourselves more than others in similar circumstances.

Take a look at your life and see where you are going? Are you going to be someone that makes the best of life or if not you can start to change it now.

Joy Fraser
Usui Reiki Master / Teacher
Edinburgh Scotland
http://www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk
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