In one of my blogs, I had mentioned that, in order to live a peaceful and happy retirement life, we should have three things in life, i.e. Health, Wealth and Friends. Someone asked me, what if any or all of these is missing in a person’s life? Does that mean they have nothing left to stay happy or live for?

I got into thinking as each of these seems to be of great importance in itself. We cannot even think of living through our old age if any of these is missing, as when we are old and retired, how do we earn money and take care of ourselves? At this stage of life, people become physically weak. We cannot be as productive as we used to be when we were younger. These seem to be the basic necessities of life. What do you think? Does it mean end of life?

Then I thought about my grandma. She is sick and old, yet she seems happy. How is that possible? It was then that I realised that I had been missing the obvious, it’s family. She has her family with her, to take care of her and to accompany her. All her basic needs are taken care of by her family. She had given up her entire life for her family without expecting anything in return; now, it is their turn to do the same for her, when she is no longer physically able to take care of herself. She doesn’t need to worry about money or friends for company. Having her family in this phase of her life is all she could ever have hoped for.

Love is a two-sided affair. If you really love someone, the person will, in-turn, love you. The greater the love you shower on them, they tend to give you the same. We don’t need to be vocal about our love. It is displayed in the way we care for the other, without expecting anything in return. If we do expect something in return, then it is not actual love, as then it is not pure. This is what happens in a family. The children grow up to reflect the love they had received while growing up.

We see many cases now-a-days, where the children disown their old parents. This is not right, but what is it that made them do it in the first place. Moreover, this is not the case in every family. So, what was the difference that made few children to disown their parents when they most needed them? It’s love.

As very well stated in the below quote:

Love doesn’t grow old with age. How we treat our children, how we make them feel in their growing years, is how they treat us when we are old and weak. The way a child is treated, leaves a life-long impression on them. If a child is constantly told that they are dumb, at some point in time, they tend to believe it. They are deprived of love of their parents. So, when their parents grow old, they don’t feel any bond or connection with them. They began to see them as an unnecessary burden, of which they try to get rid of. As they were never emotionally attached, the child doesn’t feel guilty of disowning their parents, because they never felt that their parents had ever accepted them.

So, to live a happy life, we need to love unconditionally, be it family, friends, colleagues or any person we come across in this path of life. We should spread love wherever possible, because the more love we give, the more we get. If we give our unconditional love to someone, the person will in-turn love us, without our even expecting it. It’s like a magnet. It pulls people towards us. They cannot hate us, no matter how much they try.

This is what this entire universe is based on. What you give is what you get. Give love and you will get love in return, give hate and hate will surround you.

So, it’s completely on our hands how we want our old age to be. Though some misfortunes are inevitable, what we can do is, love unconditionally, exercise daily to try and stay fit and always remember to keep some money aside for our future. This way, when we grow old, we cannot be sure that we will have good health and wealth, but what we can be sure of is that we will always be surrounded with people whom we love, and who love us in return. Then, old age won’t seem so difficult to live, other than it being just another phase of life.