“You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You can find yourself by coming into the present.” ~Eckhart Tolle
I am a senior, and, if you are a Boomer or a silent generation representative, you can relate to the following more than say, someone from Generation Y, because you were there, and you are here reading this in your ripe years. In our hay days, we risked lives to battle racism in the sixties by putting our bodies on the line to register voters. We marched and sang and advocated against segregation. In those moments of courage and conscience, we did more justice to life than the majority of us have done in the rest of it.
However, we also grew hair and burned our draft cards on campus during the sixties; we toked, and boogied our way through the seventies, and even voted for Reagan and presumed greed is good in the eighties. It is because every generation’s outlook on life stems from the social and economic situation in which they grow up. Today, we the Boomers still constitute 24% of the U.S. population, and more importantly can still contribute and be productive.
It is pertinent to mention that the authentic self is an objective for all four generations alive today: Millennials, Xers, the aging Seniors, and Boomers. It means something marginally different for each age and it unfolds over time. However, authenticity is inseparably linked to happiness.
To be authentic is to be at home in your body, accepted into a specific group, and to feel true to your sense of values. It is a type of confidence that does not come from achieving something outside of ourselves. It is realizing deep in our hearts that we are good enough in light of our feelings, needs, and skills and that we are contributing to the greater whole of life and matter.
Remember, authenticity is the regular practice of letting go of whom we imagine we are expected to be, and embracing who we are actually. To be your authentic self-means nurturing the capability to be imperfect, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, and setting boundaries.
9 Ways to Be Your Authentic Self as a Senior or Boomer
- Keep an alignment between what you feel and want and what you say and do.
- Make value-based choices when considering intuition, research, and the bigger picture.
- An activity for old age is to do something different every day that reflects your deepest wishes, wants, and values.
- Aging should not stop you from speaking up for yourself and ask for what you want.
- Do not put up with abuse of any type.
- Give up altering your behavior by the desire to be liked by everyone.
- Express and maintain your boundaries, particularly about the level of energy you can handle taking in or being around.
- Do not miss any opportunity to offer your love, kindness, and compassion.
- The most authentic way to be your authentic self is to stop acting your age, says, Thom Mcfadden! (of course, that is me, but it sounds much cooler that way)
Don’t forget to drink from the fountain of youth, YOUR MIND!