A subtle trap of mortal mind became apparent to me recently that we need to avoid if we wish to stay healthy and vital as the years tick by.

There’s a tendency for too many people to slow down in thought and become mentally inactive with advancing years. The inclination is to cease engaging with life, retract to one’s house, and lose a strong sense of purpose. In essence, thought starts to shut down and prepare for an end.

But this is not healthy!

Let’s reason about it together.

At surface appearance it might not appear to be any big deal. Common belief accepts that people age, slow down, and retire from the active life of younger years. So when seniors slow down, most people don’t question the symptoms.

But I ask the question, “If we let our thinking slow down, what is going to happen to the functions and activities of the body which is governed and controlled by the very same thinking?”

If we let our thinking slow down, aren’t the functions and organs of the body going to slow down too? Do we see the symptoms in diminished vision, less hearing, weaker hearts, feeble muscles and more?

Now this doesn’t mean a 70 year old has to bounce around the tennis court like a 20 year old, although this is not impossible! But a 70 year old can be as mentally active as a 20 year old, if not more productively so for increased wisdom and culture over the decades.

And this is the rub.

If thought is preparing to shut down at some indeterminate date, then that very same thought that is governing the body, is preparing the body to shut down too. It’s a trap we want to avoid. We don’t want the body to shut down in stages over the years. It leads to many health ailments.

To prevent organs from dminishing in strength and the body from manifesting a belief of deterioration, it helps to stay mentally and spiritually alive to Life.

Life is God, eternal, on-going, unstoppable, and ever-active. Life never shuts down and the men and women who express it will not be shutting down either.

A patient called from an emergency room. The doctors said one of his vital organs had stopped functioning and they wanted to put him on artificial support. As I prayed for his spiritual recovery, the reality of “Life and its manifestations never shut down” opened my mental eyes to the impossibility of the doctor’s verdict. I knew every aspect of this patient’s true being expressed Life fully. There could be no death in Life, I was sure. Soon, the organ started functioning again, and the patient was sent home.

Lesson to learn? Don’t unwittingly slide into the “life shuts down” trap with advancing years. We each need to be vigorous in our affirmation and demonstration of Life ever-active.

Life is God, and Life does not close up shop anymore than God slows down and stops. It’s impossible.

Life is forever. Life is eternal. And its manifestations are perpetually on-going too.

Enjoy living the Life that is ever increasing in health, strength and well being! It’s the healthier way.

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight. Mary Baker Eddy