Senior to Senior: Awesome

Young people use the word awesome a lot these days, but true “awesomeness” isn’t a word to be taken lightly, or to be overused in a moment of enthusiasm. Awesome needs to be reserved for something that is truly over the top; something that will change the way you think and feel forever. You know what I mean. I’m talking about goose bumps and tears in the eye’s moments. The kind of awesome that only happens when you see, hear, or feel something that you have never experienced before. Seniors understand awesome better than most; they have been around long enough to know that it is truly something out of the ordinary. When they say “been there done that” they are talking about meaningful, awesome moments. It is sad that so many people have become self-focused, materialistic, and disconnected. They have lost something truly wonderful; the sense of wonder. It isn’t too late you know, and you could write it off as therapy if you chose. Researchers have suggested that feeling awe is good for you. A sense of awe can boost happiness and reduce stress. After all, learning how to experience and appreciate awesome is a natural phenomenon. All you have to do is look, listen and feel. Awesome is right in front of you; a bird song, a sunrise, a sunset, a starry sky, a spider web, dewdrops on a flower, or an isolated stretch of beach. Look closely, frame it with your hands or use a cardboard cutout. Take a photo if you must, but consider just standing there and taking it all in. Look for awesome. You don’t have to travel the world to experience awesome moments. Go for a walk or sit in your backyard. It’s there. You will know it when it happens. Your eyes will open wide and you will feel a sense of appreciation that changes the way you look at things… forever. What were your most memorable moments? A starry sky perhaps, a magnificent waterfall, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or the birth of a child. Goose bumps, right?