GLOBAL HEALTH AGING

Getting older feels like the closing of a life rather than the chance to open up to a whole new world of possibilities. While it can be freeing, it exposes you to a ton of stereotypes that you may not have known existed. You’ve seen them before: the movies with the old person hunched over with a stick with thick glasses because they cannot see – that’s a stereotype!

The truth is that you are far more liberated the older you get. Older folks enjoy some exciting activities that they may not have had time for with all the years of working around the clock and raising a family. You can get involved with so many new things and it’s all because you have the time at long last. Yes, there are some health issues that come with getting older, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily be dealing with them. You may need the help of a great home care agency eventually, but that doesn’t happen the moment you hit 60! As you get older, you worry about so much more than just your age. You might be distracted by things such as numbers to do with your age and weight, but using your brain and upping your scores in crosswords and ski races is so much more fun! 

Aging doesn’t have to be this horrendous experience that the media paints it to be. You don’t have to alter your face or your body in order to appear younger; embracing your age with as much fun as possible is part of the fun! So, how can you ensure that getting older is something you find fun and not something you hate?

1. Get active in your body and in your mind. You can join some walking and sports groups and then do what you can to keep your mind active, too. This can be done with crosswords and Sudoku, games on the iPad and more. Your mind is the thing you want to keep as active as possible, and while you will still need to move your body, a sharp mind can stave off things like isolation, depression and even hearing loss.
2. Get comfortable with your diet. You may have spent your entire life losing weight or in the case of weight loss. Now isn’t the time to engage in fad dieting, but it is the time to change things up to a more Mediterranean way of eating. You need nutrients and your body can gain these with a balanced diet across all food groups. 
3. Give your home a makeover. Have the last of the kids finally flown the nest? When life is stressful, you need to be able to be at home and feel comfortable. Now the kids have left, it’s time to go room to room and spring clean, revamp and makeover each space. You can spend a lot of time beautifying your space, and it’s so much easier to do this when you have the rooms open to do it. 
4. Embrace sleep. After years of sleepless nights with children and a lack of sleep with the demands of work, it’s time to rest! All those years ago you may have hated being up half the night. Well, you get your time back to rest, relax and sleep as much as you want. The thing is, you likely won’t want to! You have a life to live, and living it requires you to be up and at ‘em!