When you stop going to work every day your world narrows alarmingly. It is not unusual for a degree of social isolation to set in, and it may take a conscious effort on your part to shake off the consequences. It isn’t that you are no longer a fun and interesting person, but everyone is so busy that life seems to be going on without you. Before you know it you are vacuuming your living room every day and watching soap operas by yourself.
Perhaps it isn’t that as much as the sense of inertia that sets in. Perhaps it just seems like too much work or too much bother to seek new avenues of entertainment. If you aren’t careful you could become one of those seniors who fusses about new fangled gadgets, and turns down chances to go somewhere or learn something new. It doesn’t take long to become one of those grumpy old men or women.
It doesn’t have to be that way and you know it! Instead of turning your displeasure into an art form, it is time to embrace social connections any old way you can. Catherine McNulty (Washington Jewish Week. Gaithersburg: October 21, 2010), put it rather nicely when she admonished that just because you have an AARP card it doesn’t mean you should let yourself fall behind the times.
You “stick in the mud’s” are probably tired of hearing about modern technology and the importance of social connections, but researchers are telling us every day how important socialization is to our wellbeing. There is no excuse for not knowing what your grandkids are up to, for not reading the latest best sellers, and for not keeping in touch with friends and family through e-mail With such easy accessibility and information available, you don’t need to feel left out, whatever your limitations might be.
It is easy to use failing vision and lack of manual dexterity as an excuse, but modern technology now has the senior population in mind. Voice recognition software, specialty keyboards, and electronic books are just a few of the things designed to make communication easier for you. Check out Nintendo Wii. It is a great way to sneak physical fitness into your live, even for people with limited mobility. Electronic books are great for people whose eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be. You can have a whole library worth of books, magazines and article at your fingertips and you will never be accused of hoarding.
Now that your kids have kitted you out with everything that you need to stay connected, it is up to you to get with it! People over 55 are the fastest growing group when it comes to using Facebook so please doesn’t think it is just something for kids. It has become easy to track down people that you thought you had lost touch with forever. You will be surprised at how easy it is to connect and stay connected with family and friends. If you haven’t been hearing from them, it could be that you just weren’t accessible enough.
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