It is valuable for us to remind ourselves that Allah Almighty is in control and that everything has been created with absolute perfection, and that all of life serves a divine and sacred purpose that leads to our greatest potential as human beings when we learn to come into alignment with it.
As we get older and age, it is natural to begin losing capacity especially when it comes to health, fitness and overall wellness. While when young, vibrancy and vital energy are a gift, as we get older it becomes incumbent upon us to cultivate health and strength.
The natural life process is such that it increasingly requires of us greater choice, intentionality, consciousness, awareness and effort, and when we embrace a life continually seeking growth, development, evolution and strength, we are given a unique opportunity to get even better as we age.
By embracing the natural life process and learning to use it to our advantage through conscious effort, as we get older we have the opportunity to become stronger, healthier, more disciplined, more resilient, more focused, more intentional, more refined and more spiritual.
Yet if we fail to adapt to life as we move through it, we will find ourselves gradually and eventually rapidly losing capacity, health, strength and wellness, increasingly succumbing to gravity and a lesser quality of life.
Perhaps it is important to point out that the goal is not particularly to increase lifespan and the quantity of years we are given, as such a thing is destined, but to improve the quality of our years and to meet our divinely mandated end with grace and with excellence.
It is also important to remember that our physical and spiritual lives are intertwined, and improving in either affects the other. By gaining physical strength, health and wellness, we concurrently experience greater strength, health and wellness spiritually, i.e. emotionally and psychologically.
How to Get Better with Age
To continue to improve with age and not only maintain physical, psychological and spiritual capacity as you get older, but also to augment and increase your potential, the following disciplines and lifestyle choices are invaluable.
Meditation
A consistent and enjoyable daily meditation practice not only keeps the body and mind young, but it is also key to spiritual growth and development. By learning how to still and quiet the mind, you progressively increase your depth and capacity for surrender, which is the key to connection and communion with the Divine Presence of God.
Life in the modern world and in our hyperproductive culture is such that it is imperative we learn how to relax and let go of the stress, tension and rush that have become the norm. By doing so, we learn how to reclaim control over ourselves and thus over our lives.
To learn more about how meditation can help you both deepen your spirituality and stay mentally and emotionally fit as you get older, check out our resources on meditation.
Exercise
Physical health and wellness directly affect our psychological and emotional health and wellness, and physical exercise is not only good for the body, but also for the spirit. While previous generations in previous eras stayed naturally fit and active simply through living and working concurrent with far less consumption, we who are now primarily sedentary must embrace a conscious and intentional exercise routine to maintain health and wellness.
It is recommended to incorporate a consistent and disciplined exercise regimen into your lifestyle that incorporates both cardiovascular as well as resistance training, and to physically strain and sweat at least every other day.
Embrace the Process
May Allah Almighty guide us to honoring what He has created with excellence, and to living lives that are in alignment with the natural processes of life so as to maximize our capacity as servants capable of serving and executing His divine will.
Allahumma ameen.
To your divine and eternal success.
2 Responses
Dearest Ihsan, indeed life & death are entwined and the two doors of entry to this life and exit back to that realm of origin. Alhamdolillah I’m approaching my 60th birthday in a few weeks, insha Allah and these BIG numbers do have an impact, making us stop and reflect on the journey both physically & spiritually. Asking ‘what have I achieved’ at 40 has now become ‘what have I been blessed with’ at 60 🙂 Like most travellers, the journey has had it’s ups and downs but KNOWING He is with me and all that occurs is part of His plan for me, help make the journey that much easier.
May the Almight bless you always and thank you.
Thank you for sharing, Nasreen, for these are beautiful perspectives, and the frames with which we view the events and circumstances of our lives makes all the difference. May God grant us the best of ends, and may our latter days be better than our former ones. To your divine and eternal success.