311 thoughts on “Our Past Catches Up With Us, Eventually”

1. ‘And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.’ Bernadette, this seems to me like a wise approach to live life, even if this might be tricky to hold consistently, with a willingness to go for it much can change.

2. Bernadette it struck me how each part of life is a foundation for the next part of life, and indeed for the next lives. We seem to live in ages that are isolated from other ages, such a being a teen and then middle aged for example, yet all ages are one big connected stream of life. Each age could be a preparation for the next and we could see ourselves as much more than our young or ageing body, instead we could see ourselves as an evolving being.

3. I agree, I now understand being super fit with lots of different exercise and a healthy diet is not it if I am disregarding my body and its inner wisdom.

4. Bernadette, this is a great blog to read and while reading I connected to the waywardness of my earlier years. I wonder if we took school children into hospitals and care homes so that they could see the consequences of leading reckless lives can have on the body. It may just support them to understand that they need to take much more care of themselves when young and this will support them as they too grow old.

   1. I did visit an aged care home as a child, but without any awareness that how we have lived affects how we age.

5. Taking responsibility is great for our health!

6. Blaming others for our issues is a dead end destination, it gets us no-where and harms others in the process, whereas if we commit to developing being genuinely honest with ourself, without judgement, and seeing the part we play in any situation then we truly empower ourselves and build a way of living that supports everyone equally.

   1. Fiona there is such a selfishness to blame we don’t even consider how it harms another. Thanks for your comment.

7. Life is an opportunity and what ever stage of life one is in ,on this plane of life the opportunity is always the same. One part of the opportunity is to live the joy that’s there as the dogs so beautifully reflect. “I observed the playfulness of dogs – they love to play together.”

8. Far from being the end, getting older is a change. There has been a lifetime of opportunities to learn, there is a different way to interact and engage with the world, and the body reflects more strongly our choices and is a bit more prescriptive of what we can and can’t do. Rather than something to be feared or avoided it sounds exciting!

9. If only we understood the truth about re-incarnation, we would see that we are not so free as we like to think ourselves to be. How ironic – we move about fearful of getting elderly all the time repeating patterns and behaviours that eons of. It leads me to consider Bernadette that the greatest anti-aging approach we could ever follow is to heal and dissolve these restrictive patterns so we can live connected innocent and playfull – with a Joie de Vivre that is divine and eternal.

10. As I’m ageing I’ve noticed there is a very definite pattern that shows on the face and body of how we all have lived. Every moment is somehow etched like an accumulation of the years before.

11. So true… no ideals or beliefs take the place of truly listening… to ourselves, and the pulse of the universe.

12. Bernadette, this is lovely blog to read as I consider how much there is to appreciate and look forward to moving into my older years.

13. What a beautiful gift of wisdom this is. We can never escape our own choices, we may find ways to disguise them for a time but the body will always reveal them over time.

14. This morning walking with a treasured friend, I felt how beautiful is this stage of life, with space to reflect and appreciate what we have said yes to in our lives now. I have a completely different experience of ageing from what i thought it would be as a young person.

15. Fast-forward to our deathbed do we feel like we have done everything to bring evolution to this plain of existence or have we slightly self-indulged. Could it be then possible that when we reincarnate we take our way of passing into our next life? If so, with a complete understand the ramifications of how I live, and, which basket my eggs are all in, my life is all about evolution to the best of my ability!

    1. ‘Fast forward to our deathbed’ is something we could bring more into our awareness for sure – being able to reflect upon our life with some measure of grace and wisdom, and knowing we are coming back to the quality in which we left. How soon do you suggest we start planning for this event gregbarnes888?

       1. From birth, then we can never be caught short of not living True energetic responsibility to the best of our ability!

16. Shining the light of wisdom on Psychological health is where Universal Medicine truly excels

17. ‘And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness’. I agree Bernadette, the future is now and how we live today.

18. As a nine year old my father dies and this was a catalyst to look after my health or so I thought what a joke I was looking back at all the fad ways of eating and thinking that it was helping but it was only buried my issues deeper.

    1. Arrogance is a power-full force that keeps us from thinking there is another way because we get so caught up in our own ways that anything that does not fit your picture is out of control.

19. It’s ironic that we regard a life well-lived as one pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve. Yet all along life’s riches live in letting go and totally surrendering to the universe’s flow. When we do this we get to see there is only truly 1 day we are here, the past and future not as far away as we think. And so our true age isn’t 55 years, but thousands of lifetimes. Thank you Bernadette for helping me to stop and reflect.

    1. “… our true age isn’t 55 years, but thousands of lifetimes.’ Living with this awareness does give us a nudge to move on from old patterns and road blocks doesn’t it?

    2. Wow, what is exposed here is huge, the way we use age to limit responsibility and awareness.

20. Serge Benhayon has said that the body never lies and every single body walking around in this world is a testimony to this statement – everything is there for a reason, is a consequence of something, from the gait and the posture to the wrinkles and marks on the skin.

21. It was not until I started to let go of my hurts and asked for Gods forgiveness that life turned around and I started to look for what Love was all about.

22. It’s fascinating to observe people who are at the stage where the story of their life is written large upon their faces and their bodies – and to observe the changes in ourselves as we age. Interestingly, I have felt ‘middle aged’ body-wise since quite young, the legacy I suspect of a past life or lives carried forward. Our bodies are a living repository for all our choices!

    1. Your awareness of a past life Victoria reminds me that I used to wonder about this as a child, and recently another young woman made a comment that she felt that she was a very old soul. Deep within we know this truth.

23. Bernadette, your elder wisdom shines through every word of this lovely blog. You’re a living testimony to the joy of ageing esoterically and a role model and inspiration. Thank you!

    1. I totally agree Victoria, Bernadette offers a joyful way to age and does not shy away from expression how this is done.

24. Retirement who ever came up with that IDEA . How can one retire from their life its just not possible . When I was growing up on the coast of south west Ireland , where most people were involved in farming, people got old and nobody retired until they died. They never stopped working of course they slowed down and adjusted to their bodies capabilities ,but they were always involved in the community and were always there with their lived wisdom to answer question , for example about the sea tides. From my observation retirement is used as a excuse to check out from one’s life.

    1. This is how it should be John. Everyone has something to contribute within his or her family and community, regardless of age.

25. “The best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.” – These are wise words, written by a very wise woman.

26. Beautiful Bernadette, the are so many roads we can walk down, so many routes we can take but the truth is none of them are ‘it’. We actually have everything we are truly need, right here inside the whole time we are alive. All it needs is for us to stop choosing to look high and low and indulging in this distraction from being us. How long do we want to play the magical mystery treasure hunt game?

27. Our body responds very quickly to love, care and nurturing. As we age we see and experience more obvious signs of how we have been treating our body. Taking care of our body is so worth it no matter what age we are.

28. As a nine year old my father dies and this was a catalyst to me looking after my health or so I thought what a joke I was looking back at all the fad ways of eating and thinking, which at best only buried my issues deeper. Learning to listen to our bodies and not the controlling thoughts that imprison us by taking away our focus is a huge shift in consciousness. Feeling the body gives us the ability to feel things and by nominating what we are feeling the distractions disappear, which gives us a greater ability to have more awareness of what our body is sharing. So could it be this expanded awareness comes from simply allowing our body to nominate the different feelings as we move through out the day? Then is it our simplest of movements, because we can not stop moving so that our movements are providing our connection to what we feel? Looking after my health today is feeling what the body is telling me as I move throughout the day while staying focused on what I am doing to the best of my ability. This honest approach to life is turning my whole world upside down and I am appreciating that these are important steps on my path of return to being a fully claimed Son of God.

    1. As I unfold my Livingness I am opening myself to feel what is happening in my life what came up the other day was how I felt the pressure from my, mother to step up and be a man around the house and work. Feeling how this was a way of living that never severed nothing like the real work ethic, but I held a underlying belief around how I had to work, which was absolutely loveless.

       1. And in a way that showed little if any respect or decency towards others and myself so in doing this I was empty thus de-voiding myself of my connection. When opened up to our divine connection their is a full-ness that is felt in the heart and when this is maintained we become re-connected to the Soul and this is a complete lack of emptiness.

29. We are all walking together Vicky, how delicious is this? No regrets is super important I agree, choosing instead to appreciate who we are and how we are living now.

30. The second blog this morning I have read where someone is walking on a beach and it reminded me just how much I love nature and how lovely it would be to walk along a beach in the early morning or early evening. I felt like I was there with you walking. So much is said here and so much grace is felt within your writing. This also stopped me in my tracks ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ Am I fully and consistently aware of this? Currently it would seem not so I still get caught up in the busy-ness of life! Also I could really relate with this ‘As a young woman I did not have a great awareness about my own responsibility for my health and wellbeing.’ same here. I spent much of my younger years, blaming others and procrastinating. If I knew then what I knew now (the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine) I know my life would have been so much more fuller, committed, joy-full and had a deep sense of purpose .. still I cannot have any regrets as I am starting to live this now.

31. The best anti-aging Medicine is to live the joy you are each and every day and do not hold it back. It’s not anti aging in the sense of not getting old, but the long term effects are evidently clear to see. Plus its free!

32. There is a beauty and a divine precision to the past catching up with us as it humbles us and asks us to look at things a different way and allows us to make more loving choices.

33. When our bodies and mind move as one these movements develop a way of living through our divine will to stay connected to our essence so even before we have a choice our will to move and align to divinity changes everything.

34. I know all too well about the consequences of past choices, it is empowering to know we can bring true healing to the body if we begin to listen and embrace the body’s wisdom and make choices that are more supportive and loving.

35. To be present in every moment, knowing that this is what creates the future brings far more responsibility and love to our lives. The future is not just some random thing; it is brought about through what we do now in the present.

36. A gem of inspiration from your experience, Bernadette… the simplicity and wisdom of being present in every moment as a guarantee of the quality of what comes next. Thank you

37. Ahhh… the wisdom of hindsight one would normally say upon reading the start of this article… that what is revealed is that we can have what would normally be allocated to the aforesaid hindsight any time in our life, even when we are very young if… And it’s very much an if, we choose to connect within to the internal awareness that gives us a spherical awareness that is so much more effective than any hindsight.

38. Awesome blog Bernadette, totally agree, we create our future by every choice we make now. It is that simple, and when we say yes to this responsibility, our life, our health and all our relationships transform, it is life changing. Responsibility is how we move forward and evolve.

39. Thank you for writing on how the past and our choices now are preparing the way for our next life. To read of how others have played hard it has shown us that there is always a choice to say – this doesn’t seem to cut it for me anymore. To just question is on the road to a great awareness and healing.

40. Indeed Bernadette, our past choices will catch up with us; sooner or later. Your blog is a beautiful reminder to make wise and loving choices now, in every moment;
    “And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.”

41. Thank you Bernadette, lovely to read that there is no drudgery in your experience of ageing, as is often portrayed by many, and reading your article I can feel that there is a gentle level of acceptance of what has past.

42. Beautiful Bernadette, bringing more awareness to the cycle of life, where there are cycles within the cycles. The quality of one moment leading to the quality of the next. Imagine if we all lived with this loving responsibility that it really is the one life we are living.

    1. I love the quality and responsibility that comes with accepting the cycles in life and that every choice affects the next.

       1. Yes, it brings purpose to life and a renewed appreciation of the power we have when we work with each other in our evolving cycles.

43. “We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.” There are more studies coming out that a main reason for addiction is lack of connection. I find that anything I have become addicted to past or present drains my energy. Whereas in connection I feel awake and energised.

44. Boy… ! that is food for thought isn’t it… As we age there is nowhere to hide… It’s so true. Our faces become a road map of where we have been and what we have done… And try as we might to hide it… The rise in Botox speaks for itself, the readout is inevitable and very clear.

    1. Very true Chris, and though the exterior, the image may be polished, we cannot escape what has been lived on the inside.

45. Thank you Bernadette, for this powerful reflection of how every cycle in our lives, which in-truth we all are inescapable part of, offers an opportunity for us to deepen connection to our wisdom, our power, our love within with so that we can continue to deepen our relationship with our Divinity, in order to live and share our Sacredness through our every day, the future of us all of our true way of being.

46. Bernadette, I found you blog very healing, as I have aged I have been incredilbly critical of myself and past choices. As I too am feeling the impacts of those choices. I love what you said here…..”As a young woman I did not have a great awareness about my own responsibility for my health and wellbeing. I did not fully understand how my emotions impacted on every aspect of my health – psychological, emotional, physiological and mental.” I really didn’t also understand that being in lots of emotion, critical and self judging all can have a negative affect on your body. I know differently now, but the physical is still wearing the marks of yesteryear, which I am learning to accept, lovingly so.

47. Deeply appreciate your wisdom shared in this blog – thank you.

48. Do I blame God for my misadventures or suffering?” In truth I would say that most people do blame God for things that are occurring in either their life or in the world. It is easier to blame God than take responsibility for our own choices. Taking responsibility is the counter to wanting to blame anyone.

49. ‘And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.’ A great philosophy to live by Bernadette. As I get older I am becoming increasingly aware of how precious each moment is.

50. ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven.’ This is the second time I’ve heard the mention of every moment (essentially counts) today and it’s calling me to really appreciate what if I choose to commit to each moment and not think about what I should be doing whilst i am doing something else – even if both are equally commendable this distracts from the job at hand and I cannot be choosing quality of energy because I’m not fully present. So no need to baulk at the thought of being present as an arduous task but embrace life and deal with the hurts that I fear feeling once present because there’s nothing lovelier than being present with quality.

51. A gem of a blog….. I love the clarity and all the wisdom you share, but this part stood out for me today:
    ‘What I felt was that it is all about how we live with ourselves, how respectful we are of our movements and how we love and appreciate ourselves and others and everything’. How we are with ourselves is how we will be with another, the key ingredient being love.

52. A wise and exquisitely written blog that offers many opportunities to inspect held beliefs and perhaps live in a way that reworks ageing.

53. It’s awesome to finally align to the awareness we’re all born with because it frees us from the ideas we’ve had about how others make our lives diffiicult. We make the choices, and one choice always leads to another choice, and whether we like it or not – no one else is making them for us. So to take responsibility for that changes everything.

54. To me it is a great thing to let go of the idea that we need solutions in living life, for instance when something happens in my life, like an ailment or pain, I rather read and try to understand what this is telling me then to directly go for a solution as going to MY GP for a quick fix or taking medication to relieve the pain, as my tendency has been all of my life. Because if I do read, I do appreciate my body and am open for more truth that I can accept and incorporate to be part of my life as from then.

55. As much as we like to think it we cannot get away from or with the choices that we make. Our past always catches up with us.

56. I am starting to feel that every night as I go to sleep and every morning as I wake up – it is the same feeling, the same body, the only difference is the range of choices I make in my day. Then I wonder if there is anything really different about those or if, in fact, there is a familiarity to those as well – do they support or do they sabotage? I wonder if our days are a microcosm of our life …

57. Even as a young person, there is no where to hide, as our bodies do show the world how we are living. You just have to look at someone to see if they are living joyfully, or eating healthily as it is clear in their eyes, their skin, their body weight and shape. I love how the body speaks so clearly and never lies. I see it all the time as a Massage therapist.

58. I am in my late 40s and may not sit in the ‘old age’ bracket just yet, but I certainly am living the consequences of my younger years – physically and emotionally. Something that I managed to bury, ignore and deny for a very long time rears its head to be looked at – and I learn pretending something is not there does not make it disappear. I have a choice to further bury, ignore and deny, or take the opportunity for healing. I agree – every moment is a gift from heaven, preparing us for our eventual home coming.

59. Reading this today touched me deeply and reminded me very clearly and lovingly that we do not get away with anything that life is about embracing each heavenly moment that is offered and I love this line ‘What I felt was that it is all about how we live with ourselves, how respectful we are of our movements and how we love and appreciate ourselves and others and everything.’ If we take care of life, we support ourselves and all around us; it’s about being honest and seeing that we can let go in each moment, and that there’s no need to give ourselves a hard time, that each moment is indeed a gift, and the question then is how do we choose to live it?

60. Knowing we are not our patterns frees us to release what is not true and begin anew. And sometimes we need the support of others to get there

61. Living our future now, with the grace of accepting the grandness of the future we can feel is very real and possible. Being willing to explore, unravel, expose and let go of ways of living that don’t fit in with our future self is the true responsibility we all have.

    1. Letting go (surrendering) is one of the most powerful things we can do, leaving us freer and freer to feel each moment in its simplicity and purity.

62. “We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.” This is a beautiful way of looking at life and living it, so very different to what we have made life to be where everything is focused on youth and achievement and that life forms us. We have a choice and can determine the quality of how we live.

63. And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness. Absolutely, Bernadette with this comes an appreciation of the preciousness of life.

64. It’s a important to know we can discard old patterns at any age and nothing stops us from living full purposeful lives until we die, unless we choose not to.

65. Yes it is true, the past catches up with us and even more reason to make each day count. We can re-imprint from now through self-care and love.

66. Awesome, Bernadette – definitely a blog to share widely!

67. I so appreciate reading this blog today Bernadette. Thankyou for sharing all your wisdom and love with us all. I do plan to reread this awesome blog again….there is just so much in it!

68. Our past does indeed catch up with us and in so many ways is a great thing that it does. It teaches us responsibility in that for every action there is either a response or a reaction and this shows up in the body. Everything that we do matters so if we have made non-loving choices in the past we need to address them at some point.

69. We are constantly wanting to take a break, feed the old patterns that keep us small or not living in our power. All of these things feel like that contribute to feeling tired, lacking in motivation and simply not ‘living our future’. As you say, these old behaviours can feel like a familiar old friend. So we have to be super conscious of that, love ourselves so much that we can deal with the tension, that uncomfortable feeling when we change a pattern, to stay with it, honour ourselves and not give in to the old ways of being, no matter how comfortable that feels.

70. Gosh – how much of our life do we spend actively seeking to ‘get away’? No wonder – the ultimate dream of so many of us is to go on a deluxe holiday, ‘escape’ and chill out. It is not just the literal escape either, but as our attitude to technology shows we are relentlessly moving to seek a virtual reality we prefer. So what would it be like if we stopped all of this, embraced everything that we experience and see in life, and finally committed to be ‘all in’? It seems to me having read your beautiful words Bernadette, that we would come to realise there is no end to what we can come appreciate and the true richness of life. What is great is that it seems we are all destined, in time, to come to understand this point.

    1. What you say is true Joseph. There is much to appreciate in life and to commit to be ‘all in’ the ultimate gift to ourselves. When we do, all of life becomes precious and full with little impulse to escape and chill out.

71. It is absolutely amazing how transparent and honest our bodies are. It is totally amazing to witness and feel its joyful response to loving choices, how our skin changes, our eyes shine and how our beauty emanates as we move. Conversely, it’s a big wake up call to see the obesity or the emaciation of a body bludgeoned or starved from the love that nourishes it from the inside out.
    Why have we walked away from this profound living wisdom? We have everything we could ever really dream of through the preciousness that resides in our bodies. And yet we cast it aside and then wonder why life has the pain and turmoil that is normal to witness in our day to day.

    1. What a good question Katerina, the proof is in our bodies, not in the pudding as the expression I grew up with taught me! Taking time to not react to how we have lived but see there is a pattern to our choices and to know we can be more engaged with what those choices are is a great awareness to have.

72. We really do need to look at the way we approach our elder years so thanks for writing this Bernadette, we are living longer these days thanks to modern medicine so it is up to our choices in life that will determine the quality of this longer life. I know for myself with the bones I have broken and the hard living I did before, has had a lasting effect on my body as I literally carry the scars but with gentle wiser choices I hope I’m still working when I am ninety if I haven’t passed over.

73. I can relate to having the attitude that everything revolved around me and that life was a struggle, but these days more and more I am feeling the joy of appreciating others and how everyone has a part to play of equal importance.

74. Such an uplifting look at aging Bernadette love your words “Every moment is a Gift from Heaven”. As we age it is important that we still see ourselves as an important part of the community we live in! Thank you.

75. ‘Letting go of being a problem solver, or feeling responsible for others’ choices, allows for me spaciousness and simplicity,’It is amazing how much clearer and how much more supportive we can be when we let go of the need to help others. This need can sometimes be masking the fact that we are not addressing our own issues.

76. Reading about others’ experiences, and sharing ours with others, give us a great insight into how others live and shows us that ultimately, underneath it all, we are all the same, no matter what our age, background, choices we have made.

77. There is great wisdom at play when we come to realize that the best way to prepare for what comes next is to embrace each moment fully, living it in a quality that lovingly seeds forth the next. In dedication to love and to loving ourselves, we cannot go wrong.

78. ‘Being able to observe life and not absorb everything around me, from the news on TV or the difficulties that others are experiencing, enables me to be compassionate and understanding, without having to have solutions.’ Being able to live in this way is something I am stepping towards, accepting that it is a process being part of this evolution. So what once got to me now doesn’t. It’s a wonderful way of being – observing and not absorbing. And all the things that get to me are opportunities to clear old hurts and beliefs.

    1. Observing the things that get to us, and seeing them as opportunities to let go of what we’re holding onto, frees us of these disturbances. It’s when we allow ourselves to stay agitated by what we’re feeling, or choose not to feel it at all, that keeps the old momentums going.

79. I love the cycle of life that you are describing here Bernadette, which is that in our younger years we are preparing for our older years and in our older years we are preparing for passing over and reincarnation and being young again. This struck me as having a very beautiful order and rhythm to this, an order than can only be described as having the hand of God in it.

80. “Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?” I’m also becoming more deeply aware that every moment is a moment of responsibility to the reflection I offer back to everyone, everything and the heavens. “How do I choose to live this?” – This is a truly important question.

81. Beautifully expressed and very true Bernadette ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ Knowing this brings a responsibility and a way of living that is joyful and loving and reflects to humanity there is a different way to live.

82. Bernadette, I love this, ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ It reminds me to appreciate myself, others and my life, rather than take things for granted, I can feel how there is so much to appreciate and if I’m feeling my lovely self then I do appreciate myself and others and the life that I have, if i’m feeling disconnected then issues can seem huge and take over and appreciation goes out the window. So staying present and connected with myself consistently feels key here.

83. We often see a link between ageing and asking more questions. We think it’s about us ageing or our bodies giving up that brings us to ask what is going on. Is it this though or is it because life merely slows down and in that slow down you are able to see and feel more. It’s not new but just something that has always been there but you have been able to distract yourself from the fact that it’s there. If for some reason, no matter the age if you life slows down do we all not get a sense of more questions being asked of us? I know when it happened to me in my late 20’s I thought at times I was going crazy with what was going on in my head. I feel ageing while a part of life isn’t something new you are presented with, it’s the fact that we slow down to allow what has always been there a voice. Don’t wait to age to listen to what your body is talking and that way when there is something that goes on we aren’t shocked.

84. Aging with grace is certainly one of the unforeseen side benefits of taking responsibility for ones life, and for choosing to connect to ones innermost being

85. Your words remind me Bernadette, of how when I was younger I’d have homework to do but to avoid this fact, I’d bury my head in the sand and watch football instead. Then at the end the match the homework was still there, and I felt in myself even further stressed out. Talk about a game. For what I get today reading your words is how whether we accept life’s gifts today or tomorrow, next week or next year they wait just the same for us to say yes. And if you see how many gifts we continue to receive, our pile of ‘homework’ can tend to build up. So there is no end to these cycles of learning but we can make them much more pleasant when we say yes to growing.

86. What you share here is essentially a crucial understanding of the fact that our past is actually lived in the present and nothing truly is left behind until we truly make adjustments and changes to the quality of the patterns and choices that make up every way of how we live each day.

87. I have noticed that although troubles abroad feel a long way away, when you look at the issues behind the troubles there are similarities everywhere. From inside our homes to the most remote areas.

    1. Yes very true Lucy.

88. It’s so true Bernadette, ‘Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually’.

89. Considering each day as a preparation for all that follows has changed my relationship with responsibility completely. I would have loved to have been open to this wisdom from a young age, and see that the way I live today not only changes my life day by day, but will support that possibility for others and for my next time.

90. It frightens me how disregarding I was to myself for many, many years and although we can’t turn back the clock at least I now can move forward knowing that the way I live now will directly effect the way I am in coming years, something I conveniently overlooked in the past.

91. It is so true that joy, vitality and harmony are qualities of being that come from our connection to ourselves and the care that we take with our bodies.

92. ‘Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually.’ There’s such depth in the meaning of this sentence, Bernadette. Not simply the consequences of our actions coming around to greet us at a later date, but also a much broader understanding of the meaning of life.

93. This is a great blog Bernadette! It is packed with gold and this is just one of the pieces of gold . . . “Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving.” . . . knowing this there is never a moment to waste.

94. On the grander scheme of things the fact that “Everything eventually catches up with us” is in fact a blessing. We can learn so much from the consequences of our actions.

    1. Yes, I agree, Samantha and once we see ‘everything eventually catches up with us’ as a blessing we are much more willing to be open to the learning on offer.

95. And again… Another truism that is actually redolent of truth… That for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction… Or consequence.

96. Well said Nicola, to appreciate that you are feeling more energetic as you age is a testament to the livingness, and your
    Commitment to life, work, projects and community is a beautiful example of how an elder can choose to live also.

97. Getting older is a gradual thing that most don’t notice too much. If we all live in the moment, each day gently merges into the next. There is no need for any of us to feel unwanted with so much need in the world and volunteers are so valued. Thank you Bernadette.

98. I have been doing a lot of research around life span and aged care, and the serious burden this creates on our national health service – but what if we began to see that the life style choices of our youth become the quality of life we experience in our elder years.

    1. I agree Rachael – the wealth of lived experience our elderly have to share with us is unmeasurable in their ability to show us what not to do in many cases – the final parts of many peoples lives is the time that they came to realise that a life lived without true, deep and meaningful relationships and love is not really a life fully lived. If we do not pass down these leanings and this wisdom, then we doom the next generation to follow the same paths and make the same mistakes

99. Learning the first steps of self love and self care I have discovered what an immense support such simple steps can be – that builds for ourselves our own foundation and steadiness in a world that is anything but.. and equally to not do so is to be willingly setting ourselves up for failure, struggle, even illness. and it is therefore worth exploring why we would so deliberately sabotage ourselves in this way.

100. The question then is whether we would have the same awareness without the accidents, injuries and illnesses?

101. As we get older we need not have less energy, in fact we can have more energy as we may be far less drained by emotions. Our body may have limitations but that need not affect our energy levels.

102. If we all could adopt the truth that we are actually ultimately responsible for everything that happens to us (both physically and otherwise) we could save a lot of time wasted blaming other people and ‘chance’ or ‘accidents’ (both of which do not truly exist) and get on with making the choices that would help us return to the love that we are made of.

103. It’s apparent that in many times in our life we get a chance to observe as we feel what our choices have been, and set a precedent for how we will move forward. This process could be embraced and would bring much to Our personal evolution and will confirm the love we have with others, which are bonds beyond physicality and lifetimes.

104. Bernadette, your blog speaks volumes of wisdom, so many statements to consider and ponder on.. I particularly love…”Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving…” Having self love as the top subject in the twilight years ensures a return in the next life with Love embodied for sure.

105. We become a well read, handed and batted old road atlas as we age, this was something old people all had in their cars before Satnavs. Our bodies are the road map of our life and our journeys to get somewhere or be something. Getting old is not about being in the slow lane because we are worn out, we are just still looking and forgot our glasses.

106. Bernadette so often we live trying to create a better future, yet as you say – and what I’ve learned from Serge – if we instead focus on the quality of each moment then the future is taken care of “I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.” It’s simple yet deeply profound.

107. That is so true at that our bodies and faces express everything that we have lived and chosen up to that point. Sometimes we don’t want to look or see what it is that we are presenting but usually it gets to a point where we are forced to see it and not avoid it any longer. The choice then is are we going to make a different one?

108. I agree, my face tells me so much; maybe I should look into a mirror more often and listen to the stories that unfold.

109. Hear! hear! As are so many others.

110. ‘This is not indulgent pandering but a collaborative listening relationship that is supporting and teaching me endlessly.’ Can you please explain more this sounds amazing?

111. Letting go is so vital, and any blame that we might attribute to anyone holds us back. Thank you for this lovely blog Bernadette. I can feel the wisdom of the elder, it is so wise and supportive.

112. For a long time I attempted to maintain a speed (fuelled almost entirely by nervous energy) to stay ahead of my past catching up with me. This was obviously unsustainable as I got older and slowed down and the wave of previous choices picked up speed simply because of its accumulating size. I have come to understand that in turning to face my past choices and their consequences, there is an opportunity to arrest the accumulation and to settle the wave by making responsible, respectful, loving choices now.

113. Using the word addiction to old patterns is so apt! They can be so abusive, destructive and yet their familiarity gives comfort in being predictable. What horrors we choose when given the choice to live in harmony.

114. We spend much of our lives trying to deny that all the assault and insults we inflict upon our body and being will inevitably be reflected to us, more obviously so in later years – it is interesting to register that level of denial and drive to delay the onset of the truth that we know is being reflected back to us – and ask ourselves why we choose it.

115. “As I age, I am made so aware of how I lived my younger life and how my body now carries all that I have lived, and how I have lived – the drive, the anxiousness, the overworked body.” what you are sharing here is deeply profound and alone should change the very way we parent, educate and live life. Knowing each choice stays with us in our bodies and either builds us or destroys us.

116. Thank God for all of the Universal Medicine modalities and tools that are readily available to all in Humanity to identify the patterns of behaviour that no longer serve us and equally heal and arrest the energy that was never us to begin with.

117. “Gardening and chores have to be managed according to one’s strength”
     Knowing our limitations is a great learning, however what I have come to see is that it is only through a lived sense of self appreciation, understanding and acceptance for who we are and what we bring that this knowing is possible.

118. Thanks Bernadette for sharing your wisdom as an more elderly woman ,it all makes a lot of sense .Learning to come back to being ourselves loving and honouring and letting go all part of the process , so well said.

119. “Letting go of being a problem solver, or feeling responsible for others’ choices, allows for me spaciousness and simplicity, and my body thanks me with more contentment and appreciation.” This is a beautiful way to live and the earlier in life that we do it the better it is for us all.

120. Sure Amita, we are actually presented with a given and that is that we have to take responsibility for how we conduct our lives and to not let it be at the mercy of how we are told by our societies how to live it.

     1. Absolutely Nico, and the lived consistency of this responsibility offers a sound sense of self empowerment and confirmation.

121. Life would become so completely different if we become aware that it is just one life, of birth and death and birth…, of growing from young to old and that how we are now is because how we have lived before. That means that how I live now will have its effect on how my life will be next, will it be this life or all my next lives. That gives a complete new perspective to my perception of how I thought life was about, that how I am now is because of all that I have experienced in this life from the outside but never considered my own role in this as that what I now understand is the most important in this.

122. “I now appreciate how taking responsibility for healing from old emotional patterns is life changing.” I reckon, hand on my heart, if it were not for Universal Medicine and its presentations and practitioners (and for me for making the changes), I would be seriously heading for major illness due to emotional patterns. I was so so so hard on myself, driven, frustrated and anxious and I was not really aware (or chose not to be aware) of how debilitating that is on the body. How much wear and tear emotional patterns have on our body.

     1. I am aware of the emotional patterns in my life not all of them but a few and have also made many changes thanks to Universal Medicine. I have found emotions to be very addictive is this the same for you? Thank you Sarah I appreciate what you have shared.

123. “When I allow my body to communicate, it has such simple wisdom, and it knows what to do in any situation.” Honouring what is communicated to us from bodies is the greatest wisdom we can listen to and the most vital support we can give ourselves at any age.

124. It’s interesting that we take our choices more seriously when there is a visible or physical repercussion; regardless of the fact that the way we feel is equally loud, if not louder.

125. There is another aspect of aging, and that comes from the appreciation and deeper relationship from our bodies as it is only until then that we understand that it is all about an alignment to what is already in our bodies for us to live now.

126. It’s true, what we have chosen in the past comes back round to meet us no matter what it is, be it love or not love. Every moment offers us an opportunity to grow from this. It may not be with the same person or situation but we are given everything always, no matter where we are, to grow and learn.

127. “As we age, there is nowhere to hide. Our faces and our bodies are the indicators of how we have lived, what we have eaten, what our thought patterns and emotional patterns have been, and how we have treated our bodies.” This is so very true, and something that I am personally feeling more acutely these days, learning to accept what my past choices have been and learning to love my body even though it is now showing the signs of a lot of past abuse.

128. I love this line: ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ If we approach life with that openness and wonder, life would respond back to us with that same wonder in our lives.

129. Ageing in the body is like a marker of how we have lived, it lets nothing go by, hidden by clothes or makeup, but clocks all.

130. ‘Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually.’ We will always walk in the body of our choices, whether it is obviously apparent to us or not.

131. Learning to love is the great lesson, one which ever expands outwards and as it becomes less self orientated, naturally the fear and attachment to our bodies dissappears.

132. It felt a little scary to read all those things that one must let go of in old age. Then there is the question does it need to be this way? A great question. Can this be answered without fear and a need to hold on? Can it come from a place inside which knows who we are, appreciates how much more we are than this physical body, but in a way which cherishes it and the changes it naturally goes through, embracing every stage of ageing as a celebration of living and not dying?

     1. Thank you for adding ‘how much more we are than this physical body’ Simon Voysey. Accepting the changes, cherishing the body through these changes, from a centre of love and understanding can become the new normal if we allow that.

133. Wow Bernadette, this blog is a great example of wisdom from an elder. One who has seen and experienced life from many angles and its like you show they are actually all the same unless you choose to see the Universal truth. I am sitting here feeling out of sorts so what you share about what every moment means is beautiful medicine for me. Thank you.

134. Our past is always with us until such a time as we heal it and let it go. No matter what age we are we can always choose to change and bring more love, care and tenderness to ourselves.

135. We need to value our elderly and deeply appreciate what wisdom they can share. It does not matter what they have experienced of how frail they may be, our elderly could great benefit this. I know I have sometimes avoided seeing older people and sometimes judged them because of their frailty and age and the obvious way they have lived that their bodies are now reflecting. I do not do this so much now as I can see that within all elderly and in fact everyone is an equally beautiful soul that has so much to share regardless of age.

136. So true Jane – there isn’t an age limit to start shinning again from the inside, we did it naturally when we where little.

137. “Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?” The more I truly choose to live life and not hide from it the more I’m asked to be responsible all my movements – nothing is separate from this truth. Having the understanding that being incredibly gentle and loving towards myself is absolutely essential is the foundation for responsible choices.

138. Changing the quality in which we live is what I have found reimprints all that I have lived up until that point. This changes all of my interactions, all my movements, and my thoughts. Therefore, allowing me to be different moving forward. This is what we are offered in every moment and this is what I would call a gift from heaven, a big one.

139. I love how we can look at our choices in 2 ways – 1 beating ourselves up for our past mistakes or 2 seeing that: ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’. So we can have no regrets rather an opportunity in each and every moment.

     1. Its interesting Bernadette, no regrets indeed. The problem with regrets is not only do they keep us in the past but they also lace our future and stop us from doing things because of the what if or just in case that happens again. We are here to learn and so naturally will make mistakes the key is not hang onto them.

140. Its like the ultimate form of clothing or fashion accessory. We spend our lives choosing how we live and then we are stuck with wearing it (our appearance and physical health as we get older).

141. Great reminder that what goes around, comes around – and there is no escape, whether we believe it or not. We do live the past now unless we choose to not bring around with us what doesn’t serve us any longer.

142. “Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving.” – and we never stop learning. How humble that is. How many older people think that’s it, I’m done, nothing else to learn. Everyday there is something to learn even when we are in a situation we know well, there is always something.

     1. It completely blows retirement out of the water. It also takes away the end goal of trying to get somewhere or achieve something as there are always greater depths of love we can go to – so effectively it takes time out of the equation and simply says be you all now for the rest is taken care of no matter what it looks like.

        1. It is amazing what happens when we let go of time. Iknow for me I have always used time as a pressure to get things done, leaving them to the last minute and essentially living ‘by the nick of time’. But the quality I ended up doing things in was not pretty. Yet when I just do what needs to be done it is like time does not exist and everything, well the whole universe, is on my side. Letting go of time takes away the struggle with life.

143. When I was younger I was so aware that my past (lives) was catching up with me, and it almost felt like a relief to be able to stop and face whatever was needing to be looked at, and there was a lot. It has taken a while but finally I have come to know that my past is always with me until such time I choose to heal what needs healing and only then can I move on in my life.

144. ‘Have we been living with beliefs that are restricting us as we age?’ I experience how much support there is available to truly let go of these beliefs which we have been holding onto for security and safety. Our body starts to be our partner once we open up to what it has to say. And life starts to be less complex and narrow but spacious and joyful.

145. This line today was perfect for me to read – ‘We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.’
     There’s a beautiful surrender in accepting that and in knowing that this is a choice we can always make.

146. ‘…or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.’ I love this line. We have choices. I’m giving myself the opportunity to discover that old patterns are not bigger than me.

147. Thank God for Serge Benhayon for I was over loaded with a “pious” spiritual beliefs. Is it any wonder so many are check out when it comes to the truth about God when you look the variety and amount of devout groups that I can now feel are of the mark when it comes to the true love. The love of God will unify humanity.

148. ‘Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually.’ Yes Bernie the law of karma and reincarnation is just, true and loving. We are held in the love of God.

149. Beautiful Bernadette opening us up to the possibility that we have been living with beliefs that are restricting us as we age? There really is a different way as you clearly share thank you.

150. Bernadette, I love what you have shared here: “It is so easy and so irresponsible to look around for someone or a situation to blame for one’s stress or suffering.”…this is a classic situation and when we are hurting, it feels like the thing to do (to point the finger), but in reality, it is about simply taking responsibility for what is happening and when we do this, it is like the hurt is so much more bearable and so much less intense.

151. Thank you Bernie I loved reading your article, I can relate to this sentence as an on going process for me of “Letting go of being a problem solver, or feeling responsible for others’ choices, allows for me spaciousness and simplicity, and my body thanks me with more contentment and appreciation.”

152. ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. ‘ What a beautiful basis from which to live our lives.

153. ‘We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns’ – Well said Bernadette, you’ve unusually used ‘choose’ and ‘addicted’ in the same sentence, 2 things that many people believe do not correspond because an addiction is out of our control, however if everything is a choice as you’ve shared then is it not our decision to repeat a pattern or behaviour every time we do it, and thus only our responsibility to change it?

154. “Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually.” This is a truth that we need to share with our young ones! I know in my arrogance, when I was younger I may not have been open to this as I could not even possibly imagine I would get to middle age and beyond and what that would be like, but even so to have those words expressed are very powerful and they would definitely have left a seed of thought.

155. How often do we really consider that ‘our present becomes our past’ if we truly accepted that our lives were a direct result of all our choices would we continue to live the way we are living?

156. We all know our past will catch up with us but that does not stop us hoping we can ‘get away’ with it. The truth is we cannot get away from it, being irresponsible for the way we are living is simple delaying the inevitable truth.

157. And the choice that we make in this moment will reflect our future.

158. Indeed Bernadette so much to let go of that we have lived which does not reflect who we truly are.

159. I find the subject of ageing fascinating and have worked in this area for a while now. What I see is of most importance is how we view ourselves, we can either choose to believe we have less capability as we get older or we can keep active and strong in our will to be involved in life. That makes a huge difference to how we age and how much we get out of life, contributing also to others along the way.

     1. I agree Stephen, how we view ourselves and our part in life is key. When we appreciate ourselves and let go of judgement, there is much richness to enjoy.

160. My days of living just for the weekend have changed enormously. I am so glad I have this chance to reevaluate how i live so clearly.

161. Yes Bernie, it is easy to remember those many late nights out partying (in the days before ‘partying’ became a verb!) and the feeling of waking up the next morning feeling wasted. We were so disconnected from the truth of life. I can remember staying on at a party, hoping to find something magical, trying to initiate that revealing conversation that might be had, look for the holy grail! But it was all glitter and empty words. How frontage are we that the truth of life has awakened in us again through the presentations of Serge Benhayon ad Universal Medicine – the treasure of Heaven is within , as Jesus said so many years ago. And it is available for all if only we will choose it.

162. ‘I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.’ – Beautifully said Bernadette, to me it reflects that we are all ageless in essence and that age is not a restriction if we are open to fully live what is here and now.

163. “We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.” I love this line – the future is always right at our finger tips, if we but choose to live it.

164. ‘Does it have to be this way? Have we been living with beliefs that are restricting us as we age?’ A great question. Who said that getting old means we have to go into decline? What about indeed appreciating the wisdom and experience an elder has to bring to the table and indeed appreciating this within yourself as you age? This perspective alone changes everything..

165. “When we honour our experience and worthiness there is much vitality and purpose to bring to others in our lives.” – Beautifully said Bernadette, this appreciation lays a strong foundation from which to truly support to our communities and re-writes the purpose of retirement.

166. My mother is an inspiration to me she is working into late 60s and soon to be 70s, she earns more now than she has at any other point in her career and takes really good care of herself. The more people live with vitality the more the images of old age will shift to mean something entirely different to the pictures we are sold – you’re lucky being on an endless holiday with no meaning or purpose to your life. There is so much lived wisdom that can be shared if we are all willing to listen to our elders.

167. It is true that how we live shows up in our body in later years: if we have lived by pushing our bodies hard in work and in exercise, it shows up in arthritis and aching joints, and for women, lifting heavy weights with shopping and general housework, or shifting large packages at work can lead to pelvic floor weakness and muscle degeration later in life that requires surgery to fix and a lifetime of being unable to lift anything heavier than half a kilo.

168. I love and appreciate this beautiful sharing Bernadette very much and agree with it all “listening to my body is one of the very best things that I can do to keep me steady. When I allow my body to communicate, it has such simple wisdom, and it knows what to do in any situation. Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving”

169. Bernadette I used to party very hard and push my body to extreme lengths in work and “play” yet I felt lost in the the process, I was running away from myself (well trying to) and that past would catch up with me, be it the next day or the next week. When I started to ask why is my life like this there was then a long period of catch up being played, one that meant I got to feel the abuse I’d put into my body. What then was amazing was that I found the more I cared for myself the bigger the effect on my body and my past that was loving supported my present and future.

170. In our early years we prepare for our elder years, and in our elder years we are preparing for next life….. and that is why a lot of letting go is required, letting go of all the things we don’t need, clutter and material stuff along with all those ideals and beliefs…. If we have this understanding, ‘letting go’, clearing out and creating space makes sense.

171. ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven’. To live with this awareness changes everything – perfect for me to take into my day!

172. “When we honour our experience and worthiness there is much vitality and purpose to bring to others in our lives.” If we lived with this awareness everyday, we would look at ageing very differently, and appreciate that as ‘elders’ we have so much to offer our younger generations. But also that we do not have to give up on ourselves, because there are always other ways to approach things whatever they may be, even if it means accepting that we simply need a bit of extra support in some areas of our lives.

173. Serge Benhayon is the first person I met who has made it plainly clear that what you do to your body will be with you for life.

174. It’s inspiring that as an older member of the community you still feel empowered to contribute and support through projects, volunteering and getting involved just as much as any other time in your life – if not more now you appreciate everything you can bring to these things.

175. Bernadette, thank you for this very inspiring article, I love this, ‘We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.’ I can feel how I have been choosing to hold onto old ways of being and thinking that no longer work and how awful this feels in my body and so it is great to be reminded that I can choose to let go of these old patterns and to make different choices and to return to who I truly am.

176. As I feel into my body I feel the timeless-ness of it. As I experience more of life I am naturally slowing down to be present with all I do. Conscious presence as is taught in The Way of The Livingness is a key to aging grace-fully. My whole being is telling me I will be gainfully employed until my last breath. My body is as strong as it ever was and this is because of the natural strength I had from growing up on a farm lifting 1000s of bags of wheat each year.
     Playing games of any description has not fitted my livingness ever since I have felt how disconnected I needed to be to go into that much over exertion in my body. The level of emotional energy I need to compete in sport is no longer any part of me. Emotions are one of the greatest forms of ‘addiction’.
     My loving choices will also look after my eyesight and hearing so that life can be lived as presented by Serge Benhayon as a Livingness until my last breath.
     Addictions especially my addiction to being emotional, was like the worst drug in my life. I was an adrenalin junky just waiting for the next opportunity for the high I would get from being emotional. The worst part was I had no idea I was addicted.
     The most difficult emotion to expose was enthusiasm. To me rage, anger, frustration, bitterness, sadness and grief fit alongside enthusiasm, feeling happy or feeling excitement, because none of these have a relationship with God. This does not mean to say that these emotions are now thrown out the window rather that I now have a relationship with them so when I feel anger or enthusiasm, etc. I know where it is coming from and do not get caught in any need for it to be right or wrong, just a simple understanding that does not carry an need for adrenaline.
     My garden is a picture and most people say they would love one the same. So life is how we choose to live and The Livingness has brought so much to all those who are willing to listen. Thank you Bernadette for a great blog that has taken me to a deeper level of healing! By the way I am nearly in my 64 year.

177. I enjoyed reading your blog Bernadette. You describe so clearly how all our past choices never get left behind but stay as imprints in our bodies and will show up in one way or another.

178. ‘And I have found that the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.’ I like this Bernadette.

179. To come to the understanding that “my body now carries all that I have lived, and how I have lived” was the biggest and most welcome wakeup call I had ever had. And it follows on from this revelation that therefore my body and the quality of my life is solely my responsibility, and as my past is inevitably going to catch up with me, I know that the more self responsibility I take, the more wonderful this past will be.

180. Listening to our bodies and honouring what they say through life will always lead to a far healthier body in older life, its possibly the most important thing of all to prepare us for our later years.

181. Things in our life like hurts and unresolved issues are like snow drifts on mountains tops. Our life is the skier that is always aware of the inevitable avalanche that will happen but continues to hope they reach the bottom before it happens. And then cycle repeats. When the avalanche does occur we are shocked, why us! We try to our run our undealt-with past, but there is no place to hide.

182. “Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?” Bernadette, I absolutely love this, it’s an awesome invitation to be open to enjoy every moment with you in your life and see every moment as holding great potential, and of what, you don’t need to know.

183. Yes, it is so humbling to realise that the consequences of all our choices are represented in our body, from our shape, size, aliments, wrinkles on our face, moods, habits and behaviours… its all there to be seen and felt, and thats the key… to live life with connection to our body, so one can feel the consequences of the choices made, and this then offers opportunity to make different choices when the same things / situations are presented.

184. What you have expressed here Bernadette is such a beautiful lesson for us all, supportive and inspirational as we enjoy being part of the school of the future;
     “Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving.”

185. When we live life as though we will never die, we live recklessly and with no consideration of the consequences – however growing older and dying is an inevitable part of life, as is the fact that our choices catch up with us, either taking their toll or supporting us gracefully into old age.

186. The point where you said that our youth prepares us for our later years, really hit home for me. Although obvious it is never in your immediate awareness when we are doing late nights, checking out or indulging in our vices. Yet all those factors contribute to the quality of the future we will live.

187. Serge Benhayon was the first person that I meet that called out the way that it really is. How we are beings that reincarnate and that every choice we make comes with that being – Law of Cause and Affect. When I first heard it to me it makes complete and utter sense and that having this awareness really does make you stop and consider how responsible are you really living. What quality is it that I am making my decisions in and how to I carry them out. This is something that needs to be taught in schools and in every home.

     1. I agree Natalie that every single child should be taught the Law of Cause and Affect from a very early age; that for every choice there is a consequence, and the responsibility of that choice is theirs and theirs alone.

188. How we have lived, everything we have done and continue to do is right there in a body. As we make the choice to live in connection with our body and truly honour it in all of our movements, then do our bodies respond and clear our past actions, otherwise they stay buried there in the body.

189. “As we age, there is nowhere to hide.” Our bodies are the biggest and best advert for the way we live, what ever that way may be. What has been incredible to witness is that by really paying attention to what I eat and drink and changing my sleep pattern to an early to bed, early to rise rhythm, I look and feel a thousand times healthier at 51 than I did at 21!

190. I really appreciate your lived wisdom shared here Bernadette, you’ve highlighted a way of living as we grow older that need not be dominated by disease and illness but by living life and allowing all to unfold and letting go of all we have held on to.

191. I do so agree Bernadette – there is nothing on earth like true harmony and joy to bring vitality and health to the body and o f course to all around us.

192. “It seems to me that in our early years we are preparing for our elder years, and in our elder years we are preparing for death and our next life.” – one continuous cycle of birth and death and birth as part of evolution.

193. Love this claiming statement Bernadette “Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving”. And it’s never to late to begin to self-love and appreciate what we bring. As we age we are living our future now in preparation for our next cycle and it’s a fact it’s our choice and ours alone in how we prepare for that next cycle.

194. When we conveniently think of the past as gone and forgotten, and the future as something ahead of us do we ever really appreciate and feel the responsibility that in this moment we are living both?

195. “When we honour our experience and worthiness there is much vitality and purpose to bring to others in our lives.” You offer the reader much in this line. We have the experience and the worthiness, but it is the honouring (and appreciation) that brings the vitality and purpose. It is the missing ingredient that many of us do not bring into our lives. I will honour myself more today, thank you. Even as I typed that I would do that, I could feel the way I was sitting was not honouring of myself, and I shifted. It is that simple yet so powerful.

196. I agree, listening to my body, also was a fundamental shift in my experience of life, so many messages and signs to appreciate and work with. I had not considered it, until it was shared with me in my 30’s and now I share it with my children, as they grow up…awesome to practice body awareness together. Life feels different when we are not just run by our head but in more harmony with our bodies, mind and soul. Always more to learn and observe but amazing to make it part of life.

197. As a young woman I never considered that the way I unloaded a container full of horse feed, or worked like a man on the boats in the yard or lifted things that were way too heavy would affect me later. I look back now and just see that the way in which I used my body was so abusive.

198. We are not taught or encouraged to take responsibility for our choices from very young, nor are we shown a truly loving way to be in the world living harmoniously with one another – until The Way of The Livingness presented by Universal Medicine. When we live this responsible, loving and harmonious way, those same choices will show in a body that is vital, healthy and joyful – no matter what our age.

199. It is so true how our past catches up with us in the form our body takes as we age… and yet how much focus is encouraged in society to stay looking young, having botox to hide the wrinkles etc. This is a very obvious way of denial and choosing to not see the results of our past choices – we are not wanting to take responsibility for how we have lived, which flows over into our healthcare system where people want a quick fix rather than take responsibility for their health and the choices they have made.

200. “Letting go of being a problem solver, or feeling responsible for others’ choices, allows for me spaciousness and simplicity, and my body thanks me with more contentment and appreciation.” Ahhh so so true, spaciousness and simplicity such wonderful qualities, I have noticed that being a problem solver and feeling responsible for others choices have been for me, ways of avoiding them, the very things that bring us contentment and appreciation.

201. Honouring ourselves, our wisdom, skills, experience and also our innate qualities is the key to connecting to our purpose. Then that purpose may continually grow in depth and breadth as we age, never ceasing life after life after life.

202. ‘I am experiencing first hand the healing and liberation from old patterns of thought and behaviour…’ this is awesome. No more excuses and no more indulging in the comfort of old patterns of behaviour from the past…. I sometimes get caught out, but like you, with the awareness that going into old patterns holds us back from moving on, we can then begin to make choices to move forward in life until the day we pass over…. and beyond 😉

203. “As I age, I am made so aware of how I lived my younger life and how my body now carries all that I have lived, and how I have lived – the drive, the anxiousness, the overworked body.” I love this sentence, something we all need to know and grow up with.

204. Whether old or young our potential of how we can be and the quality of life we can live is always there with us. It never leaves us as it is age-less. It is in fact our soul, our innermost core of who we truly are.

     1. Joshua thank you for bringing in the soul, my body can feel old or fragile sometimes, my soul never does!

205. It’s probably fair to say that we take our health for granted when young and believe we have gotten away with our choices until they gradually catch up with us. How supportive it is to realise this and make different choices as we age that truly allow joy and vitality.

206. Great feedback to hear such honesty from men and women.

207. How beautifully you put in practice to take responsibility. It can be done with joy and without resentment, even when these steps are taken at a later time in life, as there is no end to life.

208. Living the future today is a great way to look at life, “the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.” – doing this brings a consistency to life that keeps on keeping on

209. Beautifully expressed. Thank you for sharing.

210. There is so much to consider in this blog, and I like the approach that ‘…the best way to prepare for the future is to live each day, each moment, gently, with awareness and openness.’ Openness to me means letting go of past hurts, so there is no blame, no judgment, only feeling what is there right now. Moving with tenderness, releasing all tension in my body – it is surprising how much is there, and each time we let go of a layer, we find a deeper one – it is an ongoing process for all of us.

211. It’s just as well our past does catch up with us as otherwise, we would keep doing what we have always done and none the wiser, except that our bodies would start falling apart as a result of what we would then attract to stop us.

212. This is beautiful Bernadette and very reflective calling for an honesty and responsibility for our lives and our choices, I love it! Every moment is a gift from heaven and it is our choices that do indeed come back to us.

213. ‘When I allow my body to communicate, it has such simple wisdom, and it knows what to do in any situation.’ This is gold Bernadette and the key to understanding life itself. Our bodies hold the key to unlock the truth of who we are! Learn this in life and experience true harmony and joy – our natural way of being. The next step is offering this quality to the world.

214. Yes indeed and after 23 years of marriage I feel more like a young girl on her honeymoon with my super gorgeous sexy husband than I did when I married him!

215. I remember in my teens and my twenties making decisions to do things that I knew were not good for me with the attitude that being old was so far away. I knew there would be consequences but I was willing to leave that for later. What an absolute avoidance!

216. I relate very well with alcohol and other substances and activities to distract and numb the stress and unhappiness with which I lived. Although entering my ‘elder years’ I feel I would have continued numbing myself if I had not encountered Serge Benhayon and the Ageless Wisdom. Now there is more fulfillment in my life with the future being ever more expansive.

217. “Our Past Catches Up With Us, Eventually” – yes, because if we lived life as one-circular-life over the many lives that we have lived when it comes to things like reincarnation, then we realise that in the circular loop, there is no past, because it is also our present and future too. We cannot escape the past no more than we can escape our present or future, for they are all one of the same. Dealing with our present, deals with our past to affect our future.

218. Bernadette, great article, there is so much wisdom in here. This stands out for me today ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ I can feel how it is such a waste and irresponsible to live in emotions and to not choose to live lovingly, thank you for writing this article.

219. Every moment is a gift from heaven – and it is up to us how we choose to live those moments.The beautiful thing is it does not matter what age we are as the gifts from heaven keep coming if we are open to receiving them.

220. Our pictures of how life should be really do plunge us into life restricted and reactive – “I am experiencing first hand the healing and liberation from old patterns of thought and behaviour”, exposing those pictures and thus the reactions, behaviours and hurts is immensely healing and freeing.

221. “We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.” What a refreshing and inspirational way to approach getting older Bernadette. As a woman in her mid fifties, having chosen to take more care of myself now than I ever have done in the past, I am finding that my inner beauty is shining out more than ever and that ageing gracefully is something that can be celebrated rather than dreaded.

222. What strikes me about reading this blog is that age is utterly irrelevant. These are the feelings and movements of a sixty-eight year old. Yet they are utterly relevant to me (45) and are also utterly relevant to conversations that I have with my children (10, 9 & 7). Which to me just proves the point that it is all one life and that there is no ageing/timeline. Embracing this has brought an amazing equality to my relationships with my children and actually with everyone.

223. We shouldn’t live life worrying that our past will catch up with us, but instead live in a way where we maintain the quality of our choices and expression so that our past catching up would be joyfully confirming rather than confronting.

224. As I return to this blog I feel a lovely sense that our elder years are far from a time to ‘retire’ but can be such an opportunity to share our wisdom with humanity. It seems vitally important to have a real purpose right until the end of our lives and whilst we may choose to retire from work, we never retire from life.

225. If we can begin to see that there is no past, that everything is with us at all times, then we would be inspired to take a far greater responsibility for the choices that we are making. This is the amazing gift that Universal Medicine has given me and that deep understanding and subsequent humility has enriched my life. Thank you.

     1. Absolutely Otto, Universal Medicine has presented responsibility in a whole different light. Every single action we do we are accountable for knowing that it doesn’t just affect us, but affects all of humanity.

226. Yes, Bernadette, by fully embracing the here and now and all that is there for us to connect to, the past no longer dominates our lives and gets cleared as we walk in the divine quality of our essence.

227. Yes Lucy and I feel truly blessed to have so many gorgeous elder women in my life who sparkle that I know this is absolutely possible.

228. As we age the truth about the way we have lived starts to be revealed. When we are young we think we can ‘get away with it’ and as we age we start to be more honest about our choices. for most of us it is not until we start to get medical wake up calls that we really start to make changes. Why is it that we allow this cycle to keep perpetuating?

229. “Learning to love myself has been a great lesson; it’s like enrolling in the school of the future, and the beauty is that we never stop evolving.” Love this, self-love is the school of the future!

     1. This is what I am learning jacmcfadden, self love was a curious idea to begin with, but now I am beginning to feel how the self love grows to embrace others and takes out the judgement or need to control.

230. Indeed, our past does catch up with us and when it does it can be hard to face, because it is a powerful reflection of our choices in how we have been with ourselves and how we have treated our bodies, that is either abused or honoured them. But that reflection can offer us so much in the way of making different choices if we are open to being truly honest with ourselves.

231. As I read the section of this blog titled appreciation I felt something within that was asking me to re-connect more with nature. It’s so simple how we can inspire another when we express what is true for ourselves.

232. Your wisdom of a life lived shared here in a blog can support many people to not make the same choices as you did and many do when they were young and instead be responsible and thus loving towards ourselves so also this gets reflected at the end of our lives. Thank you.

233. It is powerful to experience the potential offered to expand rather than atrophy in elder years. Not the false images of older women striding forth in mainstream women’s magazines, but the deeper beauty and glow resonating in the expression of women who claim elder status quietly yet joyfully.

234. As the body is the marker of how we live, we get to see and feel first hand what 20, 30, 40 years of the same behaviour does. I’m not sure many people make that connection when it seems so obvious, either accepting it as just what normally happens in old age, or that they have been ‘unlucky’ which of course misses the point entirely.

235. I always have liked the phrase that you can run away from your problems, but you can’t run away from your feet. We can never lose the things we have buried within us. Think of the wasted space we have filled with unwanted stuff. We do have limited storage, so that is why we have sheds, lofts, lockups, drawers and closets or any place out of sight. The present is the best time to clear our past. Then we have all that space to fill it with our self.

     1. That’s great Steve, clear out the old clutter to make ‘space to fill it it with ourself.’

236. As we get older if we live with the regret of what we used to be able do or what we failed to do then this is a burden on our present. I am inspired by the teachings and presentations of Serge Benhayon and am today living with a willingness to share my energy and experience with others and have more vitality and wisdom than I ever had before. I feel as though I am a ripening acorn on the tree of life preparing to drop to the earth with all the lessons learned in this life to be ready for my rebirth in the cycle of life.

237. It is so true that we have nowhere to hide as we age, as our bodies reveal our every choice over our lifetime… our body truly is the marker of truth. In our minds we ‘think’ we can get away with so much, but in reality, our bodies expose everything in time.

     1. This is so true Paula, but I do not think until very recently that I have met many people who would say that, or even put two and two together, and if they do know deep down they are not voicing it. Maybe we need to have more conversations of what it means to be reckless in our younger years and that every moment counts and will contribute either in a negative or positive way on the body.

238. If we embrace the possibility that we all reincarnate and return each life to re-learn the lessons we need to see, then surely our view of life today would be painted a very different way. If each incident and situation that occurs is perfectly placed in our path by God, for us to heal our hurts, how can we ever sit and complain and forget to appreciate? For truly this world and our place in it is a divine masterpiece. Thank you Bernadette helping me re-see this simplicity this morning.

     1. ‘If each incident and situation that occurs is perfectly placed in our path by God, for us to heal our hurts, how can we ever sit and complain and forget to appreciate?’ Wise words Joseph. Thank you.

239. It is often only at the ending of our lives that we have the clarity and hindsight to look back and see that in actual fact, not the parties, the success, the money or the drive to be good make us happy and fulfilled. For me, I look forward to being able to look back on a life of purpose and love and connections with people that are deep and meaningful and life long

     1. What a great point you make here Rebecca, how do we want to look back on our lives at the end?

240. The wisdom of reflection that is on offer particularly in the elder years, can bring a closure to many patterns and beliefs. I love this reflection… “my emotions impacted on every aspect of my health – psychological, emotional, physiological and mental. I now appreciate how taking responsibility for healing from old emotional patterns is life changing…”

241. Very true and very wise. It is a lot easier to ignore pains and aches when we are younger, however they are there regardless of our willingness to open up to them. I remember feeling completely exhausted on my way home from work one day. Usually I would brace myself and say things like “come on Viktoria, you’re tougher than this” or “You’re making this up”, however that day I decided to surrender and truly feel how exhausted my body was. Surprisingly, that felt amazing, it was like my body was thanking me for acknowledging what it was going through.

242. It is not only when we reach our late 60’s that our bodies start to show how we have lived our lives. Our bodies throughout our life are a reflection of how we are living daily.

243. I notice with a lot of men who play sports that once they get too old to be competitive they stop all exercise. Which means there is a gap in where we are linking exercise and wellbeing for many people. The education and support to see that purposeful movement of the body is vital to maintain health and age well. As Bernadette states, the way we live is written all over our bodies.

244. It’s so important to let go of the things that hold us back. It is so simple and just a matter of choice.

245. A very beautiful and deep reflection on life Bernadette and I just love this gentle but very powerful reminder “Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?

246. Our body marks every choice we make. We can either put it into distress or love it so it trusts us and the relationship we have with it is deeply nurturing.

247. Thankyou Bernadette, it’s a powerful wake up call to take much more precious care of myself and my body because there is not only short term effects, but the realities of my long term wellbeing to consider.

248. Bernadette I feel the wisdom your speak wash and refresh me and I feel that I am walking on the beach with you. What an inspiring walk and talk to start my day! Our past does catch up with us, but the process of addressing irresponsibility is now one I take lightly rather than making it a punishment or burden. Everyday there is something to learn, undo, deepen or re-imprint or expand into. I’m enjoying the wonder and simplicity of living and learning.

249. What a science we are. It is a fascinating exploration to honestly look at oneself and those close to us, as every- BODY has a story to tell which can reveal so much about how we have lived, the quality of choices we have or have not made throughout our lives. Observing life in this way without any judgment offers an opportunity to re-connect to a truer way of being and living.

250. Is the past just about our wayward spirit drifting into the extreme separation from the truth of who it really is to only stop and realise that where it has ventured is not it and so we start our return to truth, love, purpose and the future that has been waiting for us all the time.

251. On the outside some people appear to be getting away with all sorts of choices. The body is very resilient like that, but because everything is energy we are being affected by every single one of our choices whether we can ‘physically’ see it or not.

252. Yes so true Karoline, and in that space we connect beyond all construct of time.

253. If we consider that we are going in circles and come around again and again until we have learned one thing and can move on to the next, it does make sense to embrace this moment in full and give it our all. And as you say we do not have to worry about the past as it will catch up with us eventually and we do not have to worry about the future either because it is coming towards us, inevitably.

254. We can never get too cranky with our bodies when we get ill or otherwise dis-abled for it’s the choices we have made that have lead us to that place.

255. It’s so true that our past catches up with us when we haven’t been responsible for our choices along the way. Head in the sand just doesn’t cut it and as you share our physical and psychological well-being are the living proof of this.

256. What you present is so true Bernadette – in all its aspects and particularly is terms of our past catching up with us. How we live today will be written in the body tomorrow. If we live a lifetime of ill choices, we’ll be dealing with them in coming years or, if we manage to think we ‘get away with it’ this lifetime, rest assured those same choices will catch up with us in the next.

257. Thank you for sharing your elder wisdom Bernadette. We cannot change the past, yet we can live each moment with loving awareness and purpose as we pave the way of our future. It is never too late to start ti make more honouring choices.

258. Being open to Life enables a deep settlement within our bodies, a willingness to understand, commit and to respond to all that comes to us.

     1. Beautifully expressed Deborah

259. A blog rich with much wisdom. How key it is to reflect on our choices, to appreciate ourselves deeply and to accept all that has been, all that we choose and to let go of all that no longer serves us and others.

260. “We can choose to stay addicted to our old patterns, holding onto the past like it is a familiar friend, or we can live our future now, returning to who we are.” Great approach. Living with an openness to learn from our past is what makes the present a moment for change and brings the future forward.

261. The Universal Medicine Student Body are redefining how to age. I have never seen such a group of vital, healthy and joyous elders that are super inspiring making growing old a process to embrace.

262. I love looking at people, myself included and seeing the lines on our faces and realising that they are markers of how I have lived in the past. They tell a story and one you can’t really change without botox or plastic surgery!

263. We live in cycles, the quality we choose to live in one cycle will affect the next cycle. Young people often have an attitude that they can party on during their teenage years and then in their 20’s start to be more responsible. What they do not realise is there will be consequences to the choices that will spill into this next cycle.

264. You got me thinking about the word ‘retirement’ Bernadette, which when I think about it really means withdrawal from life. Many people wait till retirement to ‘live’, to get out and do what they have always wanted to do, but then often die once they get there. I wonder if this is because in withdrawing, it would mean the sense of purpose may be lost as service and ‘usefulness’ has been relinquished.

265. “When I allow my body to communicate, it has such simple wisdom, and it knows what to do in any situation.” this blog is brilliant – the sentence above alone gave me space to feel my body and be open to receiving its messages.

266. Loving and investing in ourselves is one of the greatest and most rewarding gifts we can offer ourselves. Each choice and movement we make with this as our foundation paves the way for the next in a quality that embraces not only ourselves but all we meet.

267. We as a society have certainly been programmed into believing that as we age ‘it’s all downhill from here’, as the saying goes. But what if we’ve got it all wrong, and like you have discovered Bernadette, that the way we age is simply a result of the way we have lived, and that by living in a more self loving way our latter years can be so very different from what has come to be considered normal. So with the knowing that “our past catches up with us, eventually”, and we start making some different life style choices to ensure that our past is full of love, vitality and joy, then that is the life that will be catching up with us!

268. “As we age, there is nowhere to hide. Our faces and our bodies are the indicators of how we have lived, what we have eaten, what our thought patterns and emotional patterns have been, and how we have treated our bodies.” – In so many ways our body is the marker of truth, a reflection of our past choices. This can be a blessing or not, depending on how we have treated ourselves and all those around us.

269. Hello Bernadette, and thank you for this deeply reflective blog! Ageing is a process, and though I am only in my forties, I too have found that certain changes have already happened for me that I have actually found myself embracing. Simple things like getting my first pair of multifocal glasses to support me with reading was first something I was trying to delay doing, but it got to the point where it was no longer supportive and when I finally embraced it I have had so much fun with this! Our current society is very focused on youth and looking young and there is very little celebration and respect of the wisdom that many elders can bring. This can make it hard to see ageing as a positive thing. However, the more we have of true role models that embrace ageing and enjoy it too, despite its hurdles, the more people will feel inspired by this and it may, just maybe, allow them to reflect on their current way of living and make some changes for the future of us all.

     1. Thank you Bernadette – this is spot on, I am in a process of learning about appreciation all over again – appreciation of self on all levels, and appreciation of all those around us and the beauty that is in our lives undeniably so!

270. Beautiful blog Bernadette, full of wisdom and appreciation. ‘Every moment is a gift from heaven. How do we choose to live it?’ Great question, fully inspiring and a beautiful reminder for me to appreciate every moment is a gift from heaven. When we choose to live this, life is full of joy and with this deep appreciation we are able to bring so much to our every day, reflecting a quality to humanity that is simply heavenly.

271. Thank you Bernadette Curtin for sharing that there is a responsibility in the way we live and that our past does catch up with us when we are driven by ideals and beliefs of the way we “think” we need to live. Like yourself, I am now feeling the effects of these behaviours in my later years and have realised the importance of letting go and living with a deeper level of appreciation, this has led to more harmony in my life.

272. Whatever choice we make, our past will catch up with us, eventually. This is so true Bernadette, and we don’t necessarily like it when it does. But it’s a great stop moment and an opportunity to either go with it, dive deeply into the learning and accept it for what it is or, not take responsibility and try to blame the world, or others for our apparent misfortune. The first alternative is way more loving and enjoyable and easier to boot.

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