- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 3284
All of us are getting older. From the time we are born, we are moving toward the final journey.
How does this make you feel? How do you feel about aging in general?
Photo:quotesgram.com
Aging can be scary. It is scary to lose your memory, your vision, your hearing, your ability to drive, sew, bake, cook, do gardening, singing, dancing, travelling,… or whatever other activity you once enjoyed. As we watch our loved ones age, we too become fearful of our own mortality and commonly say, "That is never happening to me." But believe me, it will. It is only a matter of time.
We do have a choice in how we approach aging, but we do not have a choice when it comes to aging itself.
Let us take a moment and ask ourselves how our parents aged or are aging. What happened or is happening in their lives? If their identities revolved around physical labour or being physically fit and active, as they are losing those abilities, how are they handling it? Oftentimes people will fall into depression as their physical capabilities and independence falter. The same is true for those whose self-esteem came from mental acuity, and now age-related dementia -- or, worse yet, Alzheimer's -- has set in.
You may rightly ask why am I writing this blog? Why am I raising these questions and concerns? There are a few answers I can give.
One, my own experience of getting older: diabetic, high blood pressure, the dreaded repeat prescriptions, the call for bowel cancer screening of over 60s by the NHS, and the annual diabetic eye screening, to name but a few. Then, watching my mother-in-law, nearly 90 years old and her aging! Phoning me many times a day, asking the time, the day, the date or if I know where her front door key is, and indeed sometimes forgetting what and why she is phoning me for! And then she phones back again: “I remember why I had phoned- “what time is it now?”-“Where is my key?”! (Nancy, my mother-in-law, passed away in 2016)
And not forgetting my next door neighbour, bless her, knocking on my door, and not remembering why! Or phoning me and saying” Oh I forgot who were you!” Kamran I say, whilst she says”I forgot what I wanted. I will phone you back”!! (Edna passed away in 2018)
Then the icing on the cake was last night when Annie and I went to see Quartet- a must-see film for everyone in the process of aging!
Based on Ronald Harwood's stage play of the same name, QUARTET is a wickedly comic film about redefining old age and growing old with hope; demonstrating how art illuminates life and the human spirit remains undimmed even as the brightest stars start to fade.
Quartet is actor Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut, and has been nominated for a 2013 Golden Globe for Maggie Smith's performance (Best Actress - Comedy or Musical)-
See more: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/93533/quartet.html
Therefore, it is wonderful to be getting older, if we age with hope, love, gratitude, dreams, laughter and a good sense of humour. Not forgetting the most important ingredients:
Sharing the journey with a loving family and friends and firmly believing that Life is good and I am grateful to be alive: every moment is a gift.
The old , frail professor, a former student and the insights on life’s biggest question
Celebrating the Gift and Miracle of Ageing: Giving Thanks as I Approach 70
Gift Of Life
© Tami Harmel
No one knows the gift of life
until its seen in another's eyes.
What's he thinking I ask myself,
from this disease that he was dealt
He meets me at the door each day
with a great big smile upon his face.
The boss is in there he say's to me
and leads the way for me to see
After breakfast our day start's
with his favorite thing, doing art.
With brush in handle swirls and spins,
up, down and back again.
One line here a circle there, different
color's every where.
Oh, that's beautiful he says to me,
can we hang it with the others
for all to see
Everything happens for a reason, they say
and maybe for him it was meant that way
All the riches all the gold,
could not compare what this man holds.
So what's he thinking, I ask myself
from this disease that he was dealt.
Just remember no one knows,
what today may bring or tomorrow holds
No, we don't know that gift of life
until we've looked in that man's eyes
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 3387
Janine Shepherd: A broken body isn’t a broken person
“If we are to move towards our collective bliss, it's time we shed our focus on the physical.” (Janine Shepherd)
“Cross-country skier Janine Shepherd hoped for an Olympic medal -- until she was hit by a truck during a training bike ride. She shares a powerful story about the human potential for recovery. Her message: you are not your body, and giving up old dreams can allow new ones to soar.
Athlete Janine Shepherd was rendered a partial paraplegic when she was hit by a truck during an Olympic training bike ride. Doctors didn't expect her to recover. But she not only learned to walk again -- she learned to fly, and…”
“I want my body back”…
See and hear the awesome power of courage, love, hope and dream
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 4721
How Much Is Enough? What is money and wealth for? Why do we as individuals and societies go on wanting more? What is economic growth for? Can we/ should we carry on just growing, creating, producing, consuming,…,more and more, for ever more? Do we need to satisfy our needs or our wants? Should we be a “maximiser” or “satisfier” and choose the path of “enoughness”? Then, what is a good life? What are the main ingredients of a good, happy and peaceful life? Should we move away from Gross National Product (GDP) to Gross National Happiness?
To answer these and other relevant questions a father and son came together and wrote a very good book:
How Much is Enough? Money and the Good Life
The father and son are two distinguished academics: Lord Skidelsky and his son Edward. Lord Skidelsky is professor emeritus of political economy at the University of Warwick and is the celebrated author of the widely acclaimed, prize-winning, three-volume biography of the economist John Maynard Kenynes.
How Much is Enough? Money and the Good Life -- by Robert and Edward Skidelsky (YouTube)
Edward is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Exeter, specializing in aesthetics and moral philosophy. He is the author of Ernst Cassirer: The Last Philosopher of Culture.
In this book they ask us to reflect on issues that since ancient times have preoccupied all mankind. The question of how best to live one's life was at the very center of ethical debate then, and it is a topic that continues to haunt us to this day.
In How Much Is Enough? Lord Skidelsky and Edward write that "the Western world has become unhealthily preoccupied with the pursuit of wealth and wanting more." Their thesis is an argument against insatiability, that psychological disposition which prevents us as individuals from saying, "Enough is enough."
They argue that the incessant quest for higher incomes, faster growth, is robbing us of the good life rather than helping us to attain it. They challenge us by raising seldom-asked questions, such as: What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? What constitutes the good life? And, in the end, what adjustments in our moral and economic system would be needed to realize change?
In answering these pivotal questions, they reanimated philosophical and ethical ideas, drawing on economists, such as Keynes, and philosophers, such as Aristotle, in the conviction that the two disciplines need each other, the one for the sake of its practical influence, the other for the sake of its ethical imagination.
Today, with growing dissatisfaction of an economic system heavily geared to the accumulation of wealth and distorting our values, perhaps we are more willing and more inclined to rethink the role of markets so that we can pursue a more meaningful life.
To nourish these thoughts and to engage more fully with their readership, Lord Skidelsky and Edward gave an interview to Joanne Myers, director of Public Affairs Programmes at Carnegie Council which I would very much like to share with you:
How Much is Enough?: Money and the Good Life
Read a review of How Much is Enough by Mary Mellor HERE
'A provocative and timely call for a moral approach to economics, drawing on philosophers, political theorists, writers, and economists from Aristotle to Marx to Keynes.
What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on.
The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people's basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week. Clearly, he was wrong: though income has increased as he envisioned, our wants have seemingly gone unsatisfied, and we continue to work long hours.
The Skidelskys explain why Keynes was mistaken. Then, arguing from the premise that economics is a moral science, they trace the concept of the good life from Aristotle to the present and show how our lives over the last half century have strayed from that ideal. Finally, they issue a call to think anew about what really matters in our lives and how to attain it.
How Much Is Enough? is that rarity, a work of deep intelligence and ethical commitment accessible to all readers. It will be lauded, debated, cited, and criticized. It will not be ignored.'
Read more and buy the book HERE