As the years pass, we’re reminded daily of the changes in our bodies. Wrinkles appear, joints may ache, hair turns gray (or falls out), and energy doesn’t always flow the way it once did. For many, these shifts bring frustration or even fear. 

I’ve seen these reactions—and many more—while serving on my 50th high school reunion committee this past year. Together, we’ve been in awe that a half century has passed since graduation. How could that be? We’ve felt sadness too, as the list of classmates who have passed grows longer with each update from friends and family. 

Our committee of seven reflects much of what life has brought since high school: military service, marriage, children, divorce, travel, business successes and failures, adventure, tragedy, and loss. We’ve seen it all—and our physical bodies reflect that too.

Yet from a spiritual perspective, aging offers us a beautiful invitation: to remember who we really are. 

While I see the current physical expressions of my friends on the committee, I also see the spark of their teenage selves shining through. That spark is more than memory—it is their eternal soul self. It is who they truly are. 

When we view aging through this lens, grace naturally arises. We release the struggle to cling to youth and instead open to the wisdom, compassion, and perspective that come with lived experience. Grace whispers: “You are not less than you once were; you are more, because you remember more of your eternal self.” 

Even as the world feels chaotic, I am grateful to experience it from this stage of life. I know how to connect with my inner wisdom for guidance on how to move forward. My ego may not always be wise enough to follow that guidance, but I can always choose again. And each time I choose with more ease, the door to grace opens wider.  

As that door widens, so does the joy of embracing my true self—exactly as I am.