Next Avenue Article: Think Old Age Means Decline? Then It Probably Will

 

I recently wrote an article for Next Avenue: Think Old Age Means Decline? Then It Probably Will. 

Notice the older people around you who are living happily, who think of age merely as passage through time — those who expect to continue to enjoy good health, enough energy to do what pleases them, who figure life is meant to be lived fully, until the day their expiration date comes due. Use them as your benchmark of what life can be like for you as you travel through your 60s, 70s and beyond.

For the entire article, here's the link: http://www.nextavenue.org/think-old-age-means-decline-probably-will/.

Secret to a Happy, Long Life: Embrace Aging

When it comes to aging, have confidence in your future. If you have a negative attitude about aging, odds are your attitude will have a profound impact on your later years, even on how long you’ll live.

A 2014 University College London (UCL) study interviewed over 9,000 people with an average age of 65. Those who had an overall sense of well-being--defined as having control, doing something worthwhile and having a purpose in life - were 30 percent less likely do die over the following a 8 years than their least wellbeing counterparts. UCL Professor Andrew Steptoe, who led the study noted, “The findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing well-being could help to improve physical health. There are several biological mechanisms that may link well-being to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure.”

What do you value about getting older? If you say "Nothing!" you’re in trouble. If what you see before you as you advance through your 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond is deterioration, ill-health and decrepitude, well then, you’re in for a very unhappy time, and probably won’t live that long.

Another UCL study, this time in 2015, found even further proof:  after suffering a heart attack or angina, the most pessimistic patients were twice as likely to suffer from additional serious health conditions over the next four years than were optimistic patients.

If all you see before you is a depressing future, it’s not too late to change that perception. Take on an appreciative and optimistic attitude. Seek out what makes you happy and fulfilled. If you do, you’ll find plenty of reasons to live a long and purposeful life. Be appreciative every day for who you are. Train yourself to talk differently, positively, to yourself. You’ll be amazed at just how quickly your mind responds, and how your experience of your life shifts into a much happier place, the precursor to gratifying long-life.

This shifting perception is critical. From birth, we are changing every second of every day. What society calls aging, is nothing more than another change in our life’s journey. Whatever your chronological age, maintain and practice appreciation. As is true of any good habit and practice, the more diligently and sincerely you embrace appreciation, the more you will enjoy its physical and psychological benefits.

Want to Stay Young? Get Busy!

Photo: Anaya Sam

I’m endlessly fascinated by children in airports. As I sit, waiting patiently (sort of) at the gate for my flight, I watch children – in particular the 3 to 5 year olds – run, stumble, and climb over, through, and around anything stationary: people, suitcases, seats, recycling bins. They won’t sit still for more than a second. I’m exhausted just watching them, and in complete admiration of the parents who chase, snag, grab, clutch, hug, feed, and amuse their squirming, happy, perpetually-in-motion kids.

But here’s the thing: what if that very busyness is a key to the fountain of youth? What if being busy, staying very active, is a way to stay young?

A ground-breaking study from The Dallas Lifespan Brain Study of 300 older individuals between the ages of 50 and 89, found that the brains of people who were busy, worked better—regardless of their age. In geek speak: “Living a busy lifestyle appears beneficial for mental function.” Busier people could reason better (as in use their brains better), had better working memory (as in better short-term memory), better vocabulary, and had better ability to remember specific events from the past.

Since mental decline is something many of us fear as we go from 50 to 60 to 70 and beyond, this is extremely valuable information! Get busy, and you can keep those brains humming along just fine.

In practical terms, what does that mean? Well, you don’t have to imitate the 3 – 5 year olds and jungle-gym your way through airports—fortunately. I don’t know about you, but I’d look real funny doing that. But what it does mean is taking a second look at retirement: maybe the fantasy of sitting on a beach sipping pina coladas for those 20 or 30 or 40 years post-retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe you’d be better off sipping said pina coladas on an occasional Friday afternoon, and finding a number of different activities to enjoy the rest of your week.

There is so much to do, to enjoy, to share. There are umpteen organizations in need of volunteers, from library literacy programs to Habitat for Humanity to the Red Cross to your local hospital to international assistance programs and many more. There are volunteer organizations to fit every conceivable interest, there are even online volunteer matching organizations that help you find the best volunteer fit for you.

Then there’s all those hobbies you never had time for: fishing, hiking, learning a language, building a miniature railroad track, joining a choir, experimenting with crafts. Perhaps there’s a small business you’d like to start, or a novel you want to write, or a painting you’d love to learn how to paint, or a garden you so want to plant.

And then there’s physical activity: golf, dance, tennis, Pilates, yoga, running, softball, horseback riding, ping-pong, martial arts, the list is endless. No, not watching it from the cushy depths of your couch, but engaging in it.

A mix of these activities--some creative, some physical, some giving back, some just plain fun—can be a wonderful approach to a busy lifestyle. Not busyness for the sake of busyness, but having a variety of activities which, as the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study points out, give us more opportunities to learn as we find ourselves in more new situations, and put us in contact with different people, all of which help to stimulate our brains.

Stimulate your brain! Get busy! And have as much fun as possible while you’re at it. After all, isn’t that what those kids are doing with all their running around?

Live a Simply Fabulous Life—Whatever Your Decade!

 The recent “Longevity Issue” of Time Magazine held great promise—an entire issue devoted to the joy of longevity, how great! Then I read the very first article title on the cover: “The Alzheimer’s Pill: A radical new drug that could change old age.” My heart sank. My excitement vanished. Once again, getting older was automatically associated with decline and dementia.

Don’t misunderstand me: there are numerous individuals suffering with Alzheimer’s, and I am thrilled that the medical community continues its earnest resolve to alleviate that suffering and find a cure. What dismayed me, was the impression so readily embraced by our society, our media, and just about everyone around, that old age must be a miserable time of decrepitude.

Not! When you actually look at people in their 80s, 90s and beyond, there are an astonishing number who are doing very well. Who are thriving, even into their 100s! For example, George Blevins, won his most recent National Senior Games singles bowling tournament at age 100. Lillian Weber celebrated her 100th birthday in 2015 by surpassing her goal of sewing 1,000 dresses for needy children—she sewed 1,051, all handmade, all personalized.

John W. Donnelly married at 94, toured Europe at 99, and won yet another National Senior Games table tennis championship gold medal—at 100.

Amazing individuals, all three, and yet but a few examples of the many, many more alive and kicking in our communities. Which is why, BTW, I just launched a “MeetTheAmazings” Facebook page—to celebrate the dynamic, thriving, inspiring 60+ers all around us.

What’s terrific, is that science is showing us increasingly , how these happy, healthy older individuals are navigating their decades with such grace.

In a word, it’s attitude. Yes, diet and exercise are important. But more than anything, more than your genes or your status in life, how you think and what you feel are what determine your ability to enjoy a happy healthy long life.

How do you get there? Appreciate what is! Simply put, shift your focus from what you can’t do, don’t have, and are not, to what you can do, do have, and are—here and now. Like Marge, of Marge and Gower Champion fame, world-renowned dancers on Broadway and in movies.

Here’s what Marge says, at 90, in a 2010 documentary with her then dancing partner, Donald Sadler, also 90, in the studio the two used to rehearse and choreograph original pieces since working together in “Folies” on Broadway in 2001: “I think it’s kind of fun to see myself as an old lady . . . All this stuff that’s floating around the universe about being young. In this society, old, or even middle-aged, are dirty words. And everybody wants to live eternally young. Well, I gotta tell you, they’re fighting the wrong cause. They’re gonna get old and they might as well enjoy it . . . I know I had to learn a very, very important lesson, and that was to accept every decade for what it gives you, not for what it takes away. And you can adjust! So you can’t do falls or lifts, but you can still move with grace.”

Wise words indeed. The more you look for what your decades give you, for what you can appreciate--right here, right now--the more likely you are to live a happy, healthy life, throughout your years.

Get your attitude in gear, refuse to live the assumption that old age must be miserable, and have yourself a simply fabulous life!