The Last Leg

As we approach the final quarter of our lives, it is better to let go of the desire to relive the past and focus on what we want to make of ourselves, one day at a time.

- Eknath Easwaran

Older people often tell me that in these years they feel the need to get rid of the possessions they have accumulated: furniture, photographs, papers, letters. “We don’t want to leave this for our children to deal with,” they say. I want to tell them, “Don’t spend your time on things like that now!” If you have the detachment just to call Goodwill and deal with it in a single stroke, well and good. But rather than go through each letter, each photograph, each memory, it’s much better to leave everything in the garage for those who come after you. I can assure you that they will attend to it with much more detachment, and letting it go now will be far less painful than having it torn away at the time of death.

At this stage of life, more than ever, why stir up the past? Work on what you want to take with you: don’t work on your past; work on who you are and what you want to become.

Reducing Body Consciousness

There are a million and one ways in which we can reduce our identification with the body – a little every day.