Let us all stay Youthful! As always, our attitude determines everything!
Youthfulness
By Daisaku Ikeda
Youthfulness is not determined by age.
It is determined by one's life force.
One who possesses hope is forever young.
One who continually advances is forever beautiful.
Youthfulness originates from life-force.
There are young people who look surprisingly old,
and there are elderly people who,
no matter how the years pass,
always sparkle with the glow of youth,
an inner vitality.
Our bodies may grow stiffer with the passing of time,
but we should not let the same happen to our minds.
The older we are,
the more willing we should be to listen to others,
especially young people.
The struggle against aging is a struggle against cowardice,
the propensity to shun new challenges.
It is a struggle
against our complacent belief that we have done enough,
an egocentric unwillingness to help younger people develop,
and an attachment to our past glory.
Aging sneaks in through such chinks of our soul.
The life of one who continues to challenge to the end
remains youthful,
ageless,
and victorious.
Life loses its dynamism
from the moment we lose the passion with which to live it.
No matter what our age,
we cannot afford to let the flame within our heart grow dim.
We do not become unhappy because we grow old.
We become unhappy
only when we grow ever more unwilling to change as we age.
Daisaku Ikeda (on Aging)
