How to Grow Young

This article is one of the Unity Classics written by legendary leaders of Unity. Some date back decades, even a century. That’s why the language may seem a bit formal, and the writers sometimes used masculine nouns and pronouns that were considered proper for their era.

I remember my mother once saying to me: “I don’t feel old! I don’t feel any different inside!” 

… We may fear old age. We may dread the thought of being limited in activity; we may dread the thought of becoming a burden to our family and friends or having to depend on society for our care and welfare. If we think along these lines, we can build up a bleak picture … 

The number of years lived brings many changes, but years in themselves do not age us nor do they change us. It is how we live our years that makes the difference. Our growing is from within; our progress is marked by inward steps in consciousness, not by dates on the calendar.

All of us have the inner feeling that we are capable of much more than we have yet expressed, and this feeling is not a mistaken one. At any age, how ageless is our vision, how ageless are our dreams! 

With the passing of years, changes take place in our bodies, in our circumstances; life moves on and we move with it. But with childlike faith and in a childlike spirit, at any age we can find joy in living and we can keep alive the feeling of youth, of agelessness. It is our secret weapon against belief in old age. We can refuse to equate the number of years we have lived with ill health, with faults and failings and despair. We can remind ourselves that we are beloved children of God, now and forever. 

We are spiritual beings, here for a purpose, and we are needed and important, whatever our age. Best of all, we have a youthful spirit that is irrepressible, that time cannot quench, that the passing of years cannot touch.