I am at the town square with a megaphone calling out to all my clients who were midlifers or elders when I was in my physical prime. I owe everyone a grand apology for attitudes I hold forth as the folly of my youth.

Broadly stated, I APOLOGIZE for:

• Arrogance: I had no idea then how challenging living in a middle life body really is. The issues are completely different when one reaches 50-80+.

• Black and white thinking: I believed that all problems could be solved with smart sequencing and a thorough understanding of the chief complaint. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Our situations are so much more complex at this stage and our being requires revelation rather than revolution.

• The belief that everyone can make time to exercise: I was so unforgiving then and now I struggle just like everyone else to find time for my own needs.

• My stance on diet: The right nutrition constantly changes in an organic system both within us and seasonally. Developing sensitivity and flexibility to individual nutritional wellbeing is a lifelong process.

• Disrespect for the Magic Bullet: I was dismissive of the very human need for relief. I didn’t encourage continued pursuit of pharmaceutical, mechanical or medical support even though it was indicated. Holism includes all forms of medicine full stop.

• Tendency to think too small: Life is so much larger that we know. Converting undesirable experiences into solvable problems may provide short term relief, but in the long run, adapting to the horizon of possibilities is a whole lot more rewarding and relieving.

Having a middle aged body has metamorphosed my ability to adapt to changing circumstances and appreciate the organic nature of the human body. I went through a period of lamenting I was breaking faster than I could fix myself. I no longer subscribe to this mechanical view. Instead, I value confidence, resilience, inner body strength and energetic radiance. That isn’t to say that performance doesn’t matter, but rather that performance, like viewing a rainbow, is the result of both fortuitous inner and outer conditions.

The beauty of the midlife/elder body is that loosening the grip on outcomes, creates favorable conditions for this kind of learning. It takes a shift in perspective and one that I wish I held long ago.

So again, my apologies! Finally my experience has caught up with my empathy.