Joan Craven's Blog

Over the next months I’m going to review books I have been reading about aging. Each one challenged me to think in different ways.

This week I have read Mindful Aging by Andrea Brant. Brant talks about embracing change with realistic positivity and seeing the gift of loss, the gift of pain and even the gift of death.

Over the years I have embraced change. I’ve always said I have the attention span of a gnat so I find change exciting. I relish new experiences and new ventures. Even at 66 years!

Brant asks us to be realistic in our expectations and yet mindful as we move forward on life’s journey.

For me being mindful as well as realistic is the difficult part. Thinking about loss as a gift causes me to examine my perceptions from a different perspective. Sometimes I find this uncomfortable.

I enjoy the tools and exercises that Brant challenges us to use at the conclusion of each chapter.

Another point she made was that if we are “people pleasers’ we have permission to leave that behind. Not in a selfish way, rather thinking about how we contribute in an enjoyable way for ourselves.