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By Kathryn E. Eriksen Age is the great connector – it happens to everyone and everything. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, religious or not, over time your body will age. Time is your friend when you are young, but it can turn into your worst enemy when age becomes an issue in your life. But how old am I on the inside? My driver’s license may say that on July 28th, I have lived 50 years on this earth, but inside I still feel as if I am only 28 years old. It is this disconnect between my inner view of myself and the external reality that I must reconcile. I have noticed one thing – connections to people instead of things have become the touchstone of meaning in my life. When I review the sweep of my life, a definite pattern emerges. I spent my twenties going to graduate school and my thirties building a career and acquiring things. When I turned forty, I stepped off the ladder of success and discovered the joys of raising a child. Being a “Mom” became the most important role of my life. But what does the decade of the fifties have in store for me? My spin at the wheel of life has played out differently than other Baby Boomers my age. My twin brother, for example, started his family early. His oldest son will soon turn 21, while my daughter is 10 years old. My brother has passed through many phases of life that I can only contemplate with some trepidation (living with teenagers, praying that the newest driver of the family arrives home safely, and bravely sending him off to college). Watching my twin negotiate these life passages has given me a blue print to follow when it is my turn. But the future is not yet here and all I have is the present moment. And I have discovered that when I am connected to my inner source, I am the happiest. Finding that inner source has lead me on a great learning path of spiritual awakening. Over the last three years, I have devoured books on spiritual living, being connected to God and quantum physics. My view of the world has shifted, and I now find myself evaluating events from the broader perspective of spirit, instead of the narrow viewpoint of my ego.
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