I still remember something my aunt said during a conversation we had in my early twenties about aging and life.

Her words were: “The soul never ages; only our bodies do.”

When I first heard it, I felt a sudden chill down my spine—almost a sense of fear. In my mind, an image instantly formed: I’m in my eighties, my once youthful face now lined with deep wrinkles, perhaps lying somewhere in the grip of various illnesses. My mind is still alive with things I haven’t experienced yet, but my body won’t allow me to get up, grab my bag, and explore. There’s a forced farewell to the things I love, while my mind remains full of life.

Even as I tried to push that image away, it lingered throughout our conversation, and in the years to come, my aunt’s words—perhaps said without much thought—took a permanent place in my memory.

Nearly a decade later, I’ve come to realize something: Age—time itself, or what we call the accumulation of experiences—has transformed my awareness, perspective, emotions, and consciousness into something completely different than it was back then. And the name for that transformation is acceptance.

That sentence I remembered no longer frightens me. In fact, it brings a sense of peace. Even if the soul never ages, it doesn’t remain a child—it grows, develops, and evolves. Now, when I picture myself in that imagined scene, the older version of me smiles back. And I’ve learned that in order for that smile to exist, I must not dwell on what I can’t do anymore.

Instead of pushing myself endlessly and living with regret, I’ve found that doing my best, accepting what is, and learning to love the present moment can be enough for peace to find its place with a small smile.

Rather than exhausting myself over what slipped away or what I never reached, I can honor the effort I put into what I did achieve and be deeply grateful for what I have…