the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.
Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.
The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome.
-Lao Tzu
Those who are rigid and stiff will hold on to their cherished beliefs, ideas, dogmas and ideologies. The open minded, the youthful, the living yield to truth wherever they find it and they prosper because of it. Those who do not die along with their ideologies, dogmas and beliefs. Ths goes for societies and cultures as well.
One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.
- Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 199
Senior citizens often become rigid and set in their ways however the yound are more likely to be open, soft, gentle and yielding to new concepts and new ideas. They are more likely to find the beauty in the strange and unusual. And there is great power in truth where ever you find it and from where ever you find it.
And by being so gentle and yielding it is easier to be present and in the moment and thus truly savor the gifts life has to offer rather than shifting into autopilot and letting it slip through your fingers like grains of sand.
Think of how your body was when it was young, you were flexible or more flexible than you likely are today. Your body was softer more yielding to you movements. And in old age your body will be brittle, dry and unyielding not even remotely flexible.
Your heart and mind can remain forever young, open, soft, gentle, yielding or you can choose to become unyielding and thus become brittle, dry, fragile.
It is better to continue to grow, to remain youthful and flexible, yielding and open to all the surprises life has to offer.
If we think of life on an eternal time frame then it is not a question as to if we will exist but if we will exist as living or dead. There are a few things we must do to not just remain alive but remain youthful.
1) Continue to learn.Adding to the knowledge you have is incredibly important. You may not waiver once you've found truth but your understanding will deepen and that is to be treasured.
2) Nourish your curiosity.Feeding your creativity and curiosity keeps a spark in life. It helps prevent boredom which on an eternal time frame could become excruciating.
3) Exercise.Staying flexible helps if you actually are flexible. Sooner or later your biography becomes your biology. Your path through life is evident in the way you look. As long as you're healthy for you that's all that matters.
4) Don't worry; be happy.Now it would be inappropriate to be happy in every situation in life but being positive makes life much easier to deal with when times are tough and even better when times are good.
When I think of Jesus, I think of just how happy he seemed most of the time. How centered he seemed considering. He was very relaxed most of the time.
We don't need to simply adopt Christs doctrines but also his countenance.
His joy, his centeredness, his delight in the company of others all point to being fully alive and invested in every moment as it presented itself.
And not only alive but youthful, vibrant, bendable but in breakable because he was not dead and brittle.
We don't just need to exist forever we need to be forever young.
