I have realized that with the gradual failing of my physical strength—and even my moments of forgetting—that there's another strength. If I can just relax and allow who I am to come through, I don't have to put on any show or pretend to please anybody. I don't have to be anything but who I am in any situation. There's a spiritual strength in that which people value, and I value.

If you asked me what I would say to my aging friends it would be to recognize where our strength is. Be in the moment. Recognize limitations. Honor the recognition that it is now the inner world that is important. I think of this time as preparation for the ultimate liftoff, where we gather all our resources into soul center, opening to spirit.

We can take the responsibility of having lived a wonderful life, having learned, and having loved. We can let the compassion that has opened our hearts through loving—and through the many losses and sacrifices along the way—we can let the compassion that is born of our own life open us to the world around us.