If you live with passion, your life can be filled with beauty, hope, love and happiness. Like looking at life through the eyes of a child, you’ll see the wonder of the world. If you surround yourself with inspiration and words of wisdom, your passion can flourish. A few days ago, I ran across a wonderful essay written by Samuel Ullman in 1920. His words are typical of era gone by, but the message is ageless. It is simply entitled:

Youth

 

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

 

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

 

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bow the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

 

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from GOD, so long are you young.

 

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and pessimism, then your are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

 

So here is the question, what is your real age? Have you lost the wonder of your youth? I believe there is an innate passion within us all to not just survive, but to thrive. That passion never dies. It merely sleeps within you waiting patiently for a spark to re-ignite the embers. Melt the ice of your aged heart with the fire of your passion. You have the ability to tap in to the inner light at your core and when you do, the glow of its radiance will warm your spirit and touch the lives of the people around you.

Casi

Source: Simple Truths