By Dr. Roger A. Desmarais:
The gift of aging is seen in the value of the
Phoenix rising from the ashes of aging
The more elders begin to slow down, the faster the rest of the world becomes; the more the blur of meaning shifts from known to questionable, the harder it is to find understanding in the onslaught of speed and business, verbal and behavioral.
The gift of aging is seen in the value of the Phoenix rising from the ashes of aging, the ability to slow down and relish the truth in the losses to speed, finding meaning in retirement from the rush of doing and conducting business in a hectic world of finance and development.
Now is the time for personal growth in the new dimension of aging.
Life in the Slow Lane
Old life in the slow lane of a new life
Creates significant problems for the elderly
Trying to maintain some of the old norms of doing
Falter and stumble in the path of just being.
Speed limits become challenges to limited abilities
Fast lanes of commerce and shopping
Eat the souls of elders hanging on to competition
Trying to run with the pack
Vanquished even in the desire to run
Chastised by runners who smirk and give the finger
Jettisoning the value of the slow lane because unknown.
Yet, it is only in the slow lane that slow becomes beautiful.
A new sunrise on a new day creates a setting sun on the old.
It takes courage to just sit in the Fall of one's life
Learning lessons from the trees and falling leaves
How best to let them flutter to rest without fixing them
Watching with surprise the energy exerted for success
Supporting other leaves in their fall from the tree of life
All together fermenting the fruit of wisdom in elder-ing
Finding new truth in the decay of the old fast lane.
Standing in the initial fire of new discoveries in eldering
Finding it difficult to trust that ashes will produce the new norm
The new way of becoming and being needs the test of time
In itself a limitation depending on the endgame of life
Still open to the unfolding of whatever will become
Yet hesitant in the moment to commit to the now of change
Trying to find old strengths to compete with new anxieties
Wondering what is happening on the one hand
Fearful of what is happening on the other hand
Not in control of the evolution of the development
Yet trusting the deep-down drive to overcome and become.
It is still very difficult at the fork in the road
To move so slowly as to be minimized in the journey.
Dr. Roger Desmarais has written poetry on his experiences as a consultant to executives and their executive teams as a way to more easily connect with the Emotional Intelligent part of the total leader. This has also opened the opportunity to write poetry to define the Spiritual Intelligence that is the foundation for Ethical and Responsible Leadership—which is a growing request. His recently published book of corporate poetry taps the three intelligences: Intellectual, Spiritual, and Emotional: “Disruptive Poetry: Upsetting the Perfect Corporate Status Quo”