Life Is Beautiful, Enjoy It: The Axiom For The Elderly

Love for life is a crucial step for a joyful living. Whatever may be the quality of life, one needs to “love it” to live happily. The law of the average always works in life: “sorrows” follow “happiness”. It is always easy to love and enjoy moments of happiness. How to love life when pains dominate is the most important aspect of knowledge and wisdom. Here comes the importance of attitude that determines how we look at ourselves and the things around us.

An optimistic person always believes that life is beautiful and to be enjoyed to the hilt. Such an individual likes the green grass, loving pets around, chirpings of the birds, serenity of the temples, innocence of the new faces encountered, and the list goes on-There is no rhyme or reason for loving things around us. It is a sheer perception: everything around us is beautiful and life is there to enjoy every bit of the splendors around us.

Relevance for elderly

This perception of positivity and love for life is more important for elders; seniors are often faced with more difficulties than pleasure, whether in terms of physical strength or mental / cognitive ability. Life for many elders is nothing but reaching a dead end and all happiness seems to be vanishing. It is in this background that elderly people need to find the new meaning of life, its beauties and enjoying its bounties.

All of us as elders should be happy at every bit of happening around us: seeing smiling faces of grandchildren, participation in marriage functions of grandsons / daughters, meeting rarely old friends and spending some time with them, occasionally talking to distant family members over video channels, and the list goes on. All these should remind us of the sweet memories of past and rekindle “liking for life”. It should remind us as elderly people that life is beautiful and to be enjoyed fully. Difficulties will come and go, and we must believe in the adage that “this will also pass” and “the sky will be blue again.”

Strategies to feel happy and enjoy life

Some strategies to keep up the spirits and total belief in the principle of beautiful life include:

1. Remember every morning that we have got new day to live and a resolution that it is to be lived happily.

2. Enjoy every bit of what we see & encounter: lush green grass, smile of some unknown people, music of TV, taste of breakfast and all other foods during the day, and every other triviality of life.

3. Do all those things that bring smile to our face. This will differ between individuals. For some it could be painting, for others it could be spending some time with young children. For some others, it could only be walking aimlessly. But doing such acts that we like to do everyday will bring joy to us.

4. Remember all sweet memories of the past and associated achievements: it could be when we passed our 12^th standard examination, or the time we got our first job or promotion or when we got married or when our first child was born or when we went abroad for the first time. It could be anything that brings back sweet memories of the past.

5. Spend some time every day with “own self” not to do an introspection but to enjoy the company with one’s own self. Spending time with “self” in a climate of loneliness is one of the best ways to undertake self-praise and explore ways to improve one’s own life.

6. Always try to be non-judgmental of all things happening around us. This non-judgmental attitude will take us above the level of criticism of others; we would see and enjoy things as they happen without being analytical or critical of the same. This will help us to enjoy even those things that are not in our loving list.

7. Endeavor to see “positive” out of every incident that we encounter. This attitude to see a “positive” in a “negative” is the greatest trait of a positive person who is always happy and in the mood of enjoying life.

8. Avoid company of the people who spread negative thoughts. There are people who always speak negative about everything; they only emanate negative vibes. Evading the company of such people will keep you out of reach of deliberate negative thoughts.

9. And finally, be grateful to everybody for their deeds and action. This sense of gratitude is the core of happiness as it creates a true enabling happy environment to move forward.

Moving Ahead

The question often arises if it is possible to practice all the above or they are purely hypothetical. The answer varies across individuals. The fact of the matter, however, remains that if we have to age happily, we must enjoy life as it is. Many events are beyond our control and painful too. Clouds are bound to come in the life journey. However, the best way to live life is to move forward and enjoy life as it is extremely beautiful despite the problems and issues. Let us enjoy our journey of life and relish its beauty.

This article is written by Dr A K Sen Gupta, Chief Trustee, My Retired Life Foundation (MRLF)

Published on: Monday, May 19, 2025, 04:11 PM IST