The Mature Love Of The End Of Life
Mature love is characterized by a life experience and a serene heart. We are talking about souls who find each other at the end of one stage and who have a different perception of love than before, at a younger age. They do not see love as conquest or intrusion, but as a connection based on joy, affection, and understanding. These are (usually) honest relationships that allow for a new awesome phase of life.
We often hear that true love awaits us at a mature age. However, this is not entirely true. We tend to indulge in making endless comparisons with other experiences in our lives, even though the reality is actually a little simpler. Existence is ultimately the ability to appreciate everything that happens at any stage of life. It is about appreciating the experiences of youth with all the good and bad choices and at the same time enjoying every gift we receive later in life.
At each stage, we receive experiences in a special way. When we are young, we let in almost everything. We open our arms to the world and all things on our path with enthusiasm and endless energy. We are like strong summer storms. Later, we become more selective and cautious. The memory of those intense summers still lingers, but now we prefer warm breezes that evoke in us a sense of peace, golden afternoons, and calm seashores.
Mature love does not lack joy or innocence, but it seeks to avoid the same old mistakes. Mature love knows that couples are not soul mates, but rather two separate souls with their own (and sometimes very different) experiences. They are individual souls who want to give love a second chance. And why not? Let’s delve a little deeper into this concept of mature love.
Mature love: when aging means happiness
Alberto and Maite are both over 60 years old, and today they have decided to take a big step: they are going to move together. Not all of their children are happy about it. “He’s just after the money,” one says. “They’re just trying to cover up their loneliness,” another says. “It’s just a stage,” the third mutters. “In a few months they will return to their own affairs, their books, their travels, their grandchildren…”
But Alberto and Maite are not particularly worried about criticism and opinions. They don’t care about them. Their wrinkles and scars may have tarnished their skin, but they also fill their hearts with power and increase their will. They know what they are doing and why. They are not children. Maturity affords wisdom, not innocence. Their mental ballast contains too many experiences for this decision to be just a step or made on a whim.
Love on the eve of life, contrary to the views of daughters and sons and all those who just observe without really seeing, does not include the ego and the need to prove oneself. There is nothing artificial in mature love. In it, thoughts, intentions, and caresses are so authentic that the light of truth illuminates them. It is such a holistic feeling that it fills the mind, hands and heart.
On the other hand, there is also a point that Alberto and Maite are certainly familiar with. A large portion of the younger population believes that maturity or the conditional side of life means passivity and withdrawal. Just as if love or passion had an expiration date. As if it were a forbidden area for those whose hair is already grayed out and who have more life behind them than in front of them.
This is a misunderstanding among the younger generation. In fact, if positive psychology teaches us something, it is that the curve of happiness reaches its highest peak at this point. This is the stage when love is a simpler and purer experience.
A new timeline and the meaning of love
Love in later years gives a more satisfying rest than the love of earlier stages of life. It is not the fire that burns the skin, but the river that takes us on a journey of exploration with our partner. It is an opportunity to grow, experience and nurture a new kind of happiness. Contrary to skeptics ’thoughts, at this point, people are on average mentally better.
In an interesting study, economists Blanchflower and Oswald came to the conclusion that the sense of happiness and contentment is strongest during childhood and old age. If we describe happiness through the course of life, it would be in the shape of a “U,” with the first peak at childhood and the second at about 50 years of age.
However, it is clear that aging does not always guarantee mental maturity. Mental balance also does not come automatically, but a large portion of the older population dominates it with exceptional dignity and a great attitude.
Mature love may not be as overflowing as Teen’s first love, but it is definitely more fruitful and satisfying.
