Written By Alan Good
Are you stuck in a rut? Think you’re too old to improve? Do people refer to you as “elderly” “senior” or “that old guy/woman”? Do you feel old in body? Maybe it’s your mind that needs the exercise.
Stereotypes can cause a stigma in people over a certain age. People, perhaps our loved ones, want to do things for us, thus instilling an unspoken belief in us. But what is it we believe?
Mindset could be a term given to seniors. “He’s set in his ways; you can’t change him!” “She’s made her mind up and it’s set in cement!” Or it could be a term we ourselves take on. We look in the mirror and believe as we wonder where the twenty-something person went. We think, “I can’t do that.”
But there is hope. Studies have shown that the brain can relearn, can reshape to new things. We can adapt, if we have faith that we can. Your body can do more, if you think you can. Read the following poem:
“If you think you are beaten,
you are,
If you think you dare not,
you don’t
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you will loose,
you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with
a fellow’s will—
It’s all in the state of mind.
(Author unknown)
The poem goes on the say that the person who wins is the one who thinks they can.
It is important to reframe or shift away from ideas that one is stuck or helpless in terms of learning and growth—even healing. Feeling that you cannot change or learn can reduce motivation and even stop you from accessing potential help and resources. It is important to nurture a sense of hope and self-potential over one’s own ability to learn in order to nurture motivation and encourage a positive feedback loop or “upward spiral” of learning and to avoid “downward spirals” of negative thinking.
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7
There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge. What we are is an offspring of thought. Our surroundings may reflect what we think about often. Concentrate on that knee or shoulder pain and it grows in intensity. What, or how, we think, we are.
Scientists state there are vibrations around us which have different intensities. If your mind is negative, you attract events that are lower in frequency. Think positive, life-affirming thoughts, and you will attract that which is at a higher frequency. When we change our thinking, believe we can, we will soon arrive at a better state of being.
I’m not talking about climbing Mount Everest—unless you want to—want to train, take people who can help you, and believe. I am saying, you don’t need to stay where you are if you don’t want to. Make a plan—a goal—and believe you can. More on this later.
