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Written by Dr. Dorothy Martin-Neville

This is the title of my latest book. Last week I wrote about leading our lives into this next stage of the journey. Whether they are 40, 60, or 80, I have folks talking to me about creating their legacy and about the things that are changing in their lives. They are realizing that we can only use so many gadgets, so many TVs, and so many “toys.” “What’s next?”

For me, it is so exciting to see people recognizing the spirituality of life, the deeper purpose of this journey. There is this incredible inner life, the realization that there is a picture bigger than ourselves to look at. It may sound contradictory but the more you look inward, the more you recognize an inner calling for a deeper connection to a higher purpose, the more you are called to look outward to see what difference you can make.

Rather than pushing, forging ahead, “making things happen,” there is an innate call to walk with intention, with purpose, and with a peaceful awareness that there is so much more to life than simply achieving. Taking a step back, reflecting on a far more spiritual purpose, doesn’t necessarily mean finding a religion to join. Nor does it mean necessarily doing anything vastly different. It may simply mean doing all the same things but from a very different perspective and with intent not will or push. Only you know what is calling.

Taking a step back calls us to quietly separate from the noise all around us, the political chaos taking place, the many changes in the culture we thought we knew, as well as all the changes in our friendship circle. People move, die, or simply change and no longer are an active part of our lives. Separating from the noise allows us to see where we want to fit next. It allows us to recognize changes within ourselves we may not have noticed since they occurred so slowly.

Our values change, as does our taste in food, entertainment, and friends. Taking the step back allows us to catch up with ourselves as well as those we love. They may have changed, and we may not have even noticed. I make it a point to spend time with individual friends monthly, to spend time with family when I can since every sibling lives out of state. I want to be a part of those changes, of those transitions, we all make so frequently.

Walking ahead in my life, living the journey I am creating, and realizing there is so much more I want to do and to experience, calls me to lay in quiet reflection each morning, and to lay in quiet reflection and gratitude each evening for another day of life and the many experiences and opportunities the day brought.

Take some time each day to give yourself that step back, to reflect, be present, and bring you into your body. It is the best way imaginable to support your health as well, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Peace and love are the healers our bodies need. You deserve it.