Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Healthy aging: Tips for finding meaning and joy 3


A key ingredient in the recipe for healthy aging is the continuing ability to find meaning and joy in life. As you age, your life will change and you will lose things that previously occupied your time and gave your life purpose. For example, you may retire from your career or your children may move far away. But this is not a time to stop moving forward. Later life can be a time of exciting new adventures if you let it.

Healthy aging means finding activities that you enjoy

Everyone has different ways of experiencing meaning and joy, and the activities you enjoy may change over time. If you’re not sure where to get started, try some of the following suggestions:


§ Pick up a long-neglected hobby

§ Play with your grandchildren or a favorite pet

§ Learn something new (an instrument, a foreign language, a new game)

§ Get involved in your community (volunteer or attend a local event)

§ Take a class or join a club

§ Go on a weekend trip to a place you’ve never visited

§ Spend time in nature (take a walk, go fishing, enjoy a scenic view)

§ Enjoy the arts (visit a museum, go to a concert or a play)


The possibilities are endless. The important thing is to find activities that are both meaningful and enjoyable. Whatever your preference, taking time to nourish your spirit is never wasted.

Healthy aging through humor, laughter, and play

Laughter is strong medicine for both the body and the mind. It helps you stay balanced, energetic, joyful, and healthy. A sense of humor helps you get through tough times, look outside yourself, laugh at the absurdities of life, and transcend difficulties.

To learn more about how to harness its powerful effects, read Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter.

Healthy aging: Tips for staying connected

One of the greatest challenges of aging is how your support network changes. Staying connected isn’t always easy as you grow older—even for those who have always had an active social life. Retirement, illness, death, and moves can take away close friends and family members. And the older you get, the more people you lose. What’s more, getting around may be difficult.

But it’s important to find ways to reach out and connect to others. Loneliness and isolation are major threats to aging well. Having people you can turn to for company and support is a buffer against depression, disability, hardship, and loss.

The good news is that there are lots of ways to be with other people. It doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you get out of the house (if possible) and socialize:

§ Connect regularly with friends and family. Spend time with people you enjoy and who make you feel upbeat. It may be a neighbor who you like to walk with, a lunch date with an old friend, or shopping with your children. Even if you are not close by, call or email frequently to keep relationships fresh.

§ Make an effort to make new friends. As you lose people in your circle, it is vital to make new connections so your circle doesn’t dwindle. Make it a point to befriend people who are younger than you. Younger friends can reenergize you and help you see life from a fresh perspective.

§ Spend time with at least one person every day. You shouldn’t be alone day after day. Phone or email contact is not a replacement for spending time with other people. Regular face-to-face contact helps you ward off depression and stay positive.

§ Volunteer. Giving back to the community is a wonderful way to strengthen social bonds and meet others, and the meaning and purpose you find in helping others will enrich and expand your life. Volunteering is a natural way to meet others interested in similar activities or who share similar values. Even if you’re housebound, you can get involved by volunteering on the phone.

§ Find support groups in times of change. If you or a loved one is coping with a chronic illness or recent loss, it can be very helpful to participate in a support group with others undergoing the same challenges.

Healthy aging: Tips for boosting vitality

Don’t fall for the myth that aging automatically means you’re not going to feel good anymore. It is true that aging involves physical changes, but it doesn’t have to mean discomfort and disability. While not all illness or pain is avoidable, many of the physical challenges associated with aging can be overcome or drastically mitigated by eating right, exercising, and taking care of yourself.

It’s never too late to start! No matter how old you are or how unhealthy you’ve been in the past, caring for your body has enormous benefits that will help you stay active, sharpen your memory, boost your immune system, manage health problems, and increase your energy. In fact, many older adults report feeling better than ever because they are making more of an effort to be healthy than they did when they were younger.

http://helpguide.org/life/healthy_aging_seniors_aging_well.htm

So folks...don't worry about your age...it's just a number.

As a friend once told me, after 50 everyday is a bonus. How true!

So why worry about the boss who wants to make life difficult for you, why worry about shallow colleagues, why worry about flighty friends, why worry about what's ahead. Just live each day to its fullest, do your best as usual, keep company with the best of friends, love your family, love yourself, stay healthy in mind and body and be happy!


1 comment:

KrishaLiva said...

A key ingredient in the recipe for healthy aging is the continuing ability to find meaning and joy in life. Knowing the basic formula for healthy aging will help you live with meaning and joy throughout your senior years.
Krisha
geriatric emr