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“Accept Who You are Now”

Today’s story teller is an author and professor of literature at Keio University, [W:Anna Ogino].

The topic was a book which cheered her up.

The book was “On Old Age” by [W:Cicero].

She said if she explains the message of the book with one sentence, it will be “aging is not worth fearing”.

In the book, Cicero lists four reasons why “old age to be unhappy.”

1: It withdraws us from active employments

2: It enfeebles the body

3: It deprives us of nearly all physical pleasures

4: It is the next step to death

And then Cicero makes points on each reason.

1: It will be solved by one’s effort.

2: Just like we didn’t want elephant or bear level power when we are young, there is no need to want the youth’s physical strength after aging. Just use what we have properly.

3: When we are young, we are slaves to desires and waste our energies. Old age doesn’t make such waste, so we rather welcome it.

4: There are two interpretations on death; “disappearing of body and soul” or “soul lives forever”.

If the former one is true, we have no problem ignoring it because the both disappear all at once. If the latter one is true, we should wait eagerly for dyeing because we can to better place.

Ogino’s word,

“This assertion strangely encouraged me while I feel being deceived. It made me want to send this reckless cheer to my 95 year-old father and my 86 year-old mother. ‘Your life just started’.”

The NIKKEI Nov/9/2009  by Anna Ogino (author)

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