Aging as an Asset, Not a Liability
As a society we have become afraid of aging. But the reality is that aging begins the moment we are born.
Every stage of our lives brings new challenges, but between the ages of 0 and 35, most of those challenges are fun and exciting and take place within a physically healthy body.
After 35 the effects of aging start to announce themselves physically and as that process evolves, we fear the consequences.
One thing that’s really important to remember is that while the body may physically change in ways that lessen our physical prowess, our minds and our spirits often become finely tuned. We become wiser, more emotionally balanced and often-times happier.
We have nothing to prove and more time to enjoy the things that bring us joy.
Age and Enjoying Life
For a book titled, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, Cornell sociologist Karl Pillemer interviewed individuals in their later years and found, “Many people said something along these lines:
“I wish I’d learned to enjoy life on a daily basis and enjoy the moment when I was in my 30s instead of my 60’s,”
Furthermore, results of the interviews for the book showed that interviewees described “the last five or ten years as the happiest years of their lives.”
Scientists have also found that while the mind may selectively remove certain stored information, the mind ends up getting sharper for the abilities that are most important.
In a University of Illinois study, older air traffic controllers excelled at their cognitively taxing jobs, despite some losses in short-term memory and visual spatial processing. How so? They were expert at navigating, juggling multiple aircraft simultaneously and avoiding collisions.*
* Link to Helen Fields, What is So Good About Growing Old, Smithsonian Magazine
Mastering the Emotional Landscape
We all know how dramatic life can seem between the ages of 13 and marriage. Turns out that it takes many of us decades to master our emotional landscape. A study cited in a Smithsonian article refers to a gambling game experiment meant to induce regret in test subjects.
Unlike 20-somethings, those in their 60s didn’t agonize over losing, and they were less likely to try to redeem their loss by later taking big risks.
Seniors are also better than younger counterparts at imagining different points of view, thinking of multiple resolutions and suggesting compromises.
It’s so easy to see the slower moving body and the sun weathered skin of our elders and think they’ve reached a place in life that we don’t want to reach. But remember, they have earned the right to move slow (a rich, active life). Every line on their face tells the story of a day spent well in nature or from laughing too hard.
And their minds, a rich landscape of experience we could do well to learn from.
Dignity and Independence at Home
Aging well is an honor and while we continue to take care of our own health, it’s equally important to honor the experience of our elders and help them age well - and remaining at home is an important part of maintaining mental health and well-being.
Broad Street can support and enhance overall quality of life. Effective home care means preserving dignity and promoting independence… in a way that makes sense for you.