Thinking Globally, Acting Locally and Enriching Life

One of the breakout groups was lead by Alison Issen , the Community Education Coordinator at Hospice of the Comforter in Orlando who began with Longfellow:

"For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades with stars, invisible by day."

All of life is a series of choices and another one we will all face until we are dead, is will we grow old or will we become an elder?

Barry Barkin, Founder of The Live Oak Project defined ELDER "as a person who is still growing, still a learner, still with potential and whose life continues to have within it promise for, and connection to the future. An elder is still in pursuit of happiness, joy and pleasure, and his or her birthright to these remains intact. Moreover, an elder is a person who deserves respect and honor and whose work it is to synthesize wisdom from life experiences and formulate this into a legacy for future generations."

"Death is not a cosmic mistake, but an agent urging us on to life completion." -Zalman Schacter-Shalomi

Alison had us consider looking at life in seven-year phases that mirror the seasons and the calendar. Infancy begins in the dead of winter in January and our thirty's are May and June. At 57, I just entered Harvest time, which commences in September and December, is for 80 and beyond.

To depart the material world after living life to the full requires life repair work as you go.

"Life Repair is a developmental task involving the process of healing the parts of ourselves that still maybe imprisoned by the past by reframing our perceived failures and injuries, and finding the hidden meanings or lessons within our more difficult experiences.

"Forgiveness is giving up the resentments to which you ARE entitles, and offering to the person who hurt you friendlier attitudes to which they are NOT entitled." -Enright and the Human Development Study Group [1991]

Forgiveness is NOT: condoning, excusing, justifying, forgetting, denying, pardoning, passive, or even requires one to say, "I forgive you."

Forgiveness is a process one chooses to let go, detach from all emotions towards ones "enemy' without any desire for revenge or punishment.

Forgiveness also frees one up and punishing "them' cannot heal you.

And "The best you can do is forgive."- Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line

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Four universal truths that Matter Most as defined by Ira Byock:

"Forgive me." "I forgive you." "Thank you." "I love you."  

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