Life review involves a critical
examination of one’s life leading toward reconciliation between the good and
the bad we have had in our life. If we do this review truthfully we can start
on a process for removing regret and anger from our worldview.
But representing the past in
the context of Jung’s task of life review is a matter quite different from
wallowing in nostalgic reverie. Making a decision to purse this task is not
about turning over in one's mind our own wonderful depictions of our youth,
Instead, it's about reflections on life and lessons learned as we age. Our mandate
for this task is not to relive the past, but to seek a deeper understanding of who
we are by viewing the past through a transparent lens ground our life
experiences.
Over time we have created a story of our life
that fits our purpose and our understanding of who we are or who we want to
become. We come to know ourselves only through stories, we listen to the
stories of others, we inherit the stories of those who came before, and we make
sense of our own experiences by constructing a narrative that holds them, and
holds us, together. Our stories are how we make sense of our lives. When we
undertake our life review, one of our goals is to understand if our stories
actually reflect the real us.
Given the luxury of our years, we bring a
perspective on not only our life that was not possible to use when we were
young and of even less interest to us when we were middle aged when life was consumed
with concern for security and achievement.
Instead the we can look back on the twists and
turns of our life with a more measured gaze. Some things, we thought had great
value at one age, now we know have little value. Over time we have come to know
that what lasts in life, what counts in life, what remains in life after all
the work has been completed are the relationships that sustained us, not the
trophies we collected on the way. Our Life Review highlights which relationships
we value most.
For the first time in life, we have time to
enjoy the present. The morning air is filled with the promise of a wonderful day;
the park become our observation deck on the world. The library is now the
crossroads of the world, small children a new delight and a companion, we
delight as we watch they explore their way through life again.
We experience a form of liberation that comes
with being age. The competition and stress that comes with trying to find a
place in today's highly impersonal economy fade away as I can do what I like,
wear what I like, say what I like without bartering my very survival for it.
For the first time in years it is possible
simply to be a person in search of a life. The need to reek of competence and
approval gives way to the need to enjoy life. As we examine our Life review we
can appreciate this freedom even more.
We have the luxury of attending to people now
rather than to things. And out of that attention comes a new sense of being
really important to the world. One of the great blessings of being our age is not
that it isolates us but that, ironically, it ties us more tightly to the people
around us
Finally, we have a responsibility to distill
for those close to us, the real meaning of life. The quality of our reflections
on life are so different than those younger and if we through our examination
of our life review or true to ourselves our reflections will, certainly be
listened to. We have a responsibility to show those that are younger that behind
all the hustles of life lies a deep pool of peace
We can do this by our devotion to
solitude, to prayer, to reading, to the arts, to the simple work of gardening,
to the great questions of the age.
Through our life review we show our continuing
commitment to building a city, a country, a world that will be better for all
when we move on. This may be the
greatest lesson of life we can give the younger generation; it may be the greatest
insight they every have, and it starts with our life review.
No comments:
Post a Comment