Aging Well | Savoring Your Sixties

The Key to Aging Well

04 March 2010

Were you hoping for a magic pill? Me too. Oh, if only it were that easy.

I already know the key to aging well. So do you.

I doubt you can pick up a magazine or read a newspaper or go online without being reminded of it.

Here’s one example, an article by Judy Jones in the June 2009 issue of More magazine.

According to the New Rules for Saving Your Memory, a huge number of people are keeping their cognitive function well into their 80s or beyond. Part of the population, though is not aging well at all, not even in their 60’s.

What’s the difference between the 2 groups?

An active lifestyle.

30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week boosts brainpower, decreases stress, and reduces the risk of dementia, depression, heart disease, and more. Everything but wash the windows, apparently.

Seriously, I know exercise is important, vital, crucial. I’ve known this for years. But I still don’t do enough of it.

I dabble in it here and there but I confess I do not consistently get 30+ minutes three times a week. There are so many things I’d rather be doing.

What about you? Do you get the recommended amount of exercise? What tips and tricks do you use to get yourself to do this? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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How to Slow Your Aging

24 February 2010

What could help you slow aging, fight illness and depression, and prolong life?

Friends!

Of course, we know how important friends are. But science is now catching up with recent studies showing friends make your life better in many different ways.

In a New York Times article Tara Parker-Pope wrote about researchers who took students to the base of a steep hill and fitted them with weighted backpacks.

“The students were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.

The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.”

Turning 60, being in your sixties, aging. These can be steep hills in your life. May you stand with friends during these times.

What do friends mean to you? How strong is your support system? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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Maybe 60 is Just a Pimple

19 February 2010

Remember when you were younger & got a pimple on your face? Ick!

The whole world revolved around that pimple.

It was huge. It was blaring. It was screaming on your face.

You knew everyone was focusing on your pimple. That’s all they saw when they looked at you.

How could you possibly go out with that pimple on your face? What could you do to hide it? When would it ever go away?

As you grew older, you came to realize people were more focused on themselves than you. Most of them didn’t even notice if you had a god-awful pimple!

You also realized your pimple wasn’t you. It wasn’t even your face.

The pimple wasn’t really all that big. It didn’t matter all that much.

You were so much more than your pimple.

What if being in your sixties is like a pimple?

No one but you really notices or cares all that much.

You are not your age.

Your age doesn’t matter than much.

And you are so much more.

What do you think? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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Turning 60: The Best Birthday Present

17 February 2010

Growing older is the best birthday present according to a recent Dear Abby column. The column is about turning 50 but the same wisdom applies to turning 60.

Abby and her readers make some excellent points about celebrating and being grateful for more years.

Not everyone gets to have 60 or even 50 years alive on this earth!

Yep, there can be some challenges to aging. But it’s better than the alternative, isn’t it?

Thoughts? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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Healthy Habits After 60

27 January 2010

Senior man giving woman piggyback ride

Are you thinking about how to be healthier?

This time of year, many people are. For those of us near or past 60, healthy habits become even more crucial.

You’ve heard it all before of course. But what if this time instead of just reading what you should be doing, you picked one change and focused on that for 90 days?

Here are some of the best, proven ways to improve your health. Pick the one you have some energy for, use these tips for making change, and create a new healthy habit for yourself.

1. Walk regularly.

2. Do strength training.

3. Get enough sleep.

4. Meditate.

5. Eat more whole foods.

6. Find and follow your passions.

Which of these or other improvements will you choose to make in your health? Click on Comments, scroll down, and tell us about it.

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Priorities After 60

19 January 2010

If you’re not living your own priorities after you turn 60, when will you?

As author Nora Ephron said in a recent interview, “To me fun is everything. . . The older you get the more crucial it is to think about, how can I have the most fun out of this day, the most delicious food, be with the people I really want to be with.”

Fun, food, people are top priorities for Ephron.

What are your priorities and what are you doing to fully live them?

Want to talk about your priorities? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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Life Long After 60: Inspiration from 80+ers

04 January 2010

Wondering what’s possible for you after 60?

Elderlyspace is filled with delightful stories of people in their 80s, 90s, and 100s who are still having fun and spreading joy and wisdom.

Playing piano, stopping an armed gunman, dancing the tango, and more. These people aren’t limited by aging.

If you want inspiring role models for aging well, read some of their stories.

If they can do this at 80, 90, 100, what can you do at a mere 60 or so?

Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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What Will You Do with These Years?

29 December 2009

Every year, I get my report from the Social Security Administration. With all due respect to the SSA, this doesn’t read with the thrill of a great novel. Still, this information caught my attention.

If you are 65 years old today, typically you’ll live to 83.

One in 4 will live to 90.

One in 10 will live to 95.

So, statistically speaking, if you’re approaching or in your early to mid 60’s, you may have 20 to 35 more years to live.

What will you choose to do with these years?

Thoughts? Click on Comments below, scroll down to the form, and write away.

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Want to Live Longer? Change This

14 December 2009

Do you have negative stereotypes about getting older?

If so, you’re definitely not alone. Most of us in this culture do.

But, according to Yale University research, individuals with negative perceptions of aging live 7½ fewer years than those with positive perceptions.

Seven and one half years!

That’s more longevity than you can lose with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, or lack of exercise.

This gives me an inspiration. Maybe I can eat whatever I want and forget about exercising as long as I’m positive about aging. Just kidding!

The real message here is that negative attitudes about aging can reduce your life expectancy and that positive ones can increase it.

Want to live longer? Change any negative beliefs or attitudes you have about aging to positive ones.

What do you think about this? Click on Comments, scroll down to the form, and write away.

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22% Less Likely to Die

09 December 2009

“A 10-year Australian study of almost 1,500 people age 70 and older found that those with the largest social circles were 22 percent less likely to die than those with fewer friends, ” according to an article on Arthritis Today.

If this works for 70 and older, why not for those of us under 70?

You knew, of course, that friends were priceless treasures. But did you know they might help you live longer, too?

Thoughts? Click on Comments, scroll down, and write away.

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