This article was first published in "Going Mental" by Daniel McGowan.
The Descent Into Misuse
The common belief that we must gradually deteriorate -as shown in the photo “the descend into old age”- as we grow older, is a fallacy of human existence. Such a reaction is unnecessary. Unfortunately, this is what children and young adults observe and they believe that such misuse must happen to them. this is what we think is inevitable for us. Note that we are not looking here at states of body: these are states of mind. It is a deep and widespread misconception that “life” and the force of gravity do this to us. Not so, if we learn constructive conscious control in the use of the self, gravity becomes our ally, not our enemy. It actually causes us to stand easily erect.
It has been, and still is, a source of great joy to me to teach people constructive awareness and to see them change, as shown on the photo of the ascent back to good use. In order to change in this way, some people have to be brave, look in the mirror and face themselves. They have to be brave when they feel the fear as their muscle tension patterns release. It comes as a shock to realize that all those pent-up emotions are stored in that part of the psyche we call the muscles. They have to be brave when they open the door and see a long dark tunnel that they must walk along to reach the light they can just see at the end of it. They smile when I say, “Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand and we can walk together.”
Not all pupils feel fear. The majority of pupils are immediately happier when their muscles release and a broad smile brightens their faces. No matter what the reaction, if pupils persevere they always say that the quality of their living has greatly improved.
Incidentally, dear Reader, please don’t make the assumption, “Well, most old people become like the one on the left. That only happens to the elderly.” On the contrary, many young people are in such a poor state of misuse.
This article was first published in Going Mental by Daniel McGowan. You can download the PDF of this book for free here: FREE DOWNLOAD