Senior Living: Aging And The Gift of Time

You read articles every day about how people are living longer and are healthier than ever before.   Age sneaks up on the best of us and we rarely take the time to appreciate that Mother Nature has given us a tremendous gift.  I am talking about the gift of time.  Many of us are being gifted with an average of 30 more years than our grandparents and even our own parents were able to enjoy.  How great is that?   

Modern health care and the fruits of a healthy lifestyle have given us the capacity to add additional years to our lifespan.   Our parents were old, or at least we thought they were old, at 40 or 50 years of age.  We are either in serious denial or something wonderful is happening.  Here we are, in our 50s and 60s and beyond, and we are not old! However, the goal is not just to live a long time, but to live exceedingly well.

There are really “old” people doing marvelous things these days.  You see them on tennis courts, running for public office, writing books, volunteering at the food banks, hiking on weekends, and doing hundreds of things that would have impossible even one generation ago.

The one thing that differentials these people from the rest of the pack is that they have stopped viewing aging as a negative entity.  They have been too busy living life to worry about all of the things that they might not be able to do.   Believe it or not, there are more people aging successfully than not.  Do not let visions of declining health, nursing home occupancy, or social isolation mold the way you live your life.

What are seniors passionate about today?

• They want to be able to take care of themselves until the end.
• They want to remain free of chronic disease or learn how to manage them if they do occur.
• They want to have friends who are there for them.
• They want to be able to make choices about things that will affect how they age (diet, exercise, smoking etc.).
• They want to be able to cope with any and all challenges.
• They want to feel satisfied with their lives, at least most of the time.

Today we can reasonably assume that we have a modicum of control over what happens to us.  Even if we didn’t take good care of ourselves (and a good many of us didn’t) we still have a chance.  Sure, you wish you had eaten less junk food, quit smoking earlier, taken better core of our skin and been more mindful about protecting your bones and joints, but it still isn’t too late to do better. 

 

Comments

[CARLOS LASANTA,SR.]

GREAT SITE ,CONGRATULATIONS