When we strip away the impositions, the fantasy of permanence and the denial of ultimate concerns, we begin to view aging as holding the potential for activation of new, unprecedented levels of self-affirmation, meaning and spiritual growth.
According to the approach suggested by the U.S. political scientist Hadley Cantril, participation in vital collectivities supplies a sense of meaning through group affirmation and action and raises the member's estimate of his social status, both of which are important needs often frustrated in modern society.
The word affirmation comes from the Latin affirmare, originally meaning "to make steady, strengthen".
The system is essentially dialectical, or "crisis" (from the Greek word meaning "crossroads, decision"), theology i.e., the simultaneous affirmation and denial of paradox in any statement or concept relative to God.
With these affirmations and negations she was refusing to allow others to construct her meaning.
This came as CNBC was interviewing Barclays Capital stock strategist Barry Knapp, who said the health-care reform's affirmation would raise all sorts of uncertainties and be bad news for business and investor confidence, meaning the stock market would fall forever.
Apophatic mysticism (from the Greek, "apophasis," meaning negation or "saying away") is contrasted with kataphatic mysticism (from the Greek, "kataphasis," meaning affirmation or "saying with").
For elderly people, approval, affirmation and respect may be highly valued; recognition of experience and respect from their family will give meaning to life.
This belief also furnished a warrant for the Catholic affirmation of the body of truth that is transmitted to the church through the college of bishops and preserved by oral tradition (meaning that it was not written in the Scriptures).
