It always amazes me how we are so channeled throughout this journey (mostly driven, in my observation, by gain), how certain expectations are imposed on all of us, depending on how many trips around the sun we have taken, particularly those of us who have made that trip more than a few times. For example, when we reach the years around mid-life, we are made aware that certain (strange) behavior or ailment can be expected and, thus, the seed is planted in our thought. This is then, so frequently, followed by saturation media promotion of a product that will help ‘alleviate’ these conditions.

And as time passes (note that I did not say ‘as we age’, which has such negative connotations), we are bombarded with different effects at different times in our lives, to be alleviated by this-or-that drug, or diet, etc. And, some of these ad campaigns really sound like snake-oil sales patter to me!

The sad thing is that most people appear to fall for this. If we weren’t made so brutally and calculatingly aware of our age and these effects, I’ve no doubt that we would not fall so easily prey to these suggestions.

While birthday cake is very nice, I could do without the annual reminder but, as it is unlikely that these reminders are going to go away anytime soon, the objective is to counteract the negative with enlightened thought that recognizes that, with each succeeding year, it’s not the physical that defines us but that we should realize that we are wiser, more harmonious and serene, and always beautiful.

Zed