Growing old is a natural principle that manifests itself for everyone at every moment. It is the approach to inevitable death like a train heading to its terminus.
Death is biological but it can be delayed by a flexible state of mind. What characterizes the young plant is its elasticity, its flexibility, even its plasticity. The older it gets, the more rigid it becomes. Finally, in the twilight of its life, it is stiffness that characterizes it the most.
It is the same for the human mind. When it is young, it is more open and malleable. When it gets older, it becomes intractable and more and more set in its ways.
One way to make youth, the companion of a lifetime, is to cultivate a flexible mind, no matter how old we are.
Flexibility is worked on by a form of acceptance and a natural magnanimity that characterizes young children in whom a divine grace seems to have been incarnated. Growing old, although it affects everyone, we can emancipate ourselves from biological inevitability to create our own reality that flourishes through the mind.
A flexible mind creates a flexible body and thus impacts the biological. It allows us to rejuvenate our appearance despite the hardships we have experienced.
Breaking with an old age mentality means refusing to feel superior to others under the pretext that we are older or have more experience. To stay young is to consider everyone as an equal, a bit like a child who doesn’t see as many barriers between people.
Youth means purity. If you cultivate purity, you’ll stay young for life.
