I just finished reading Ageless Soul by Thomas Moore. There is much wisdom in this book as he reveals the difference between aging into a true elder vs. the typical fears of “old age.”

At the end he states, “This requires that you understand you are not your body, you are not the sum of your experiences, and you are not as restricted by time as you may have thought. You have a soul, the river of vitality from which your life flows, a tributary of a much grander soul of the world. Your soul is there at every moment of experience in time, but it is also ageless.”

~p. 286.

He talks about the importance of accepting the changes that come with age and being honest about the number of your years. Your young self is always inside your soul, and can be expressed by your older self. As one ages, the importance of becoming a true elder and giving to others, whatever bits of your personal gifts and wisdom that you can share, is the goal. Accepting the process, with its inherent challenges, is what renders equanimity.