Archive for the ‘Aging’ Category

An Evolutionary Life!

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

FROM:  Steve & Suzanne

Here is a quote from the American visionary thinker and pioneer of evolutionary enlightenment, Andrew Cohen.  This speaks to us at this time in our lives and we want to share it with you.  Namaste!

What motivates us to make the important choices that we make? Are these choices informed by the deepest insights and the highest perspectives that we have seen? Or are these choices driven by conditioned impulses or unquestioned “shoulds” that we’ve unconsciously absorbed from the unenlightened world around us? If the choices we make are motivated by anything less than the very highest part of ourselves, we will always, at some level, experience a sense of unease, as if something is wrong that we can’t quite grasp. Unless the important choices that we make are in alignment with the highest we have seen, reaching towards our own edge, we will always be spiritually dissatisfied. We will not feel whole.

 But when this changes in a dramatic way, when the important choices we make become a genuine reflection of our own deepest and highest knowing, then we’re going to experience what it means to be alive in a completely new way. We’ll be living at our own edge. In fact, we’re going to have to run just to keep up with that edge. Once we’ve made the choice to align with our own higher but as yet unmanifest potentials, undoubtedly we will become even more painfully aware of the many parts of ourselves that are very far from that edge. So we are going to have to spend most of our time doing all we can just to catch up with our own extraordinary potential. But that’s what it means to live a truly evolutionary life. It’s the ultimate challenge and the biggest thrill that there is—always living on that edge. 

Posted in Aging, Health, Mid-Life | No Comments »

Rare Recommendation!

Monday, May 24th, 2010

FROM:  Steve

I’m going to do something today that I generally don’t do!  I am going to recommend a magazine that I have found very informative and helpful as I travel the road from midlife and beyond.  I recommend it because it is easy to read (mostly short, entertaining articles), specific to my needs as I grow older and wiser,  generally apolitical (other than being supportive of people like me), and just all around interesting!! 

AARP: The Magazine, a hip, glossy monthly,  is filled with genuinely useful, up-to-date, vital information that captures the essence of the variety of opportunities and lifestyles available to us as we grow older in what seems to be an ever more complex society.  I like it because it alerts me to things I think I should know to live a longer, happier, healthier life.  It also shows me how other people are doing it!    I like that!

The magazine came as a perk when I joined AARP, an organization targeted to people 50 and over.  I remember when I was first approached (by mail) to join the organization back when I was 50.  Still being middle-aged and nowhere near retirement, I chuckled to myself and trashed the mailing without even opening it!  Perhaps you did the same thing!?  I’m turning 63 next month and I wish that I had opened that initial mailing and taken the time to read some of the material.  The time taken then would have been useful in perhaps helping me pay attention to the inivitable a bit sooner!  There was information there about health, finances, relationships, law, travel, politics, etc. that I could have used sooner in my last 13 years.

It only costs $16 to join for a year (with significant discounts for longer term subscriptions).  The magazine in itself is worth the cost.  But in addition I get another monthly publication called the AARP Bulletin that is chock full of additional useful information.  And for those of us that like to surf around in cyberspace, I have unlimited access to AARP.org (included in the $16 fee) which looks like it contains all the information I need to navigate my future.  And if it isn’t right there at my fingertips, I can find numerous links and references telling me where I can go to have my questions answered!  What a deal!! 

So if you are really serious about making the rest of your life the best of your life, click on over to www.aarp.org and do a little exploring.  Follow the directions to join up.   Then look forward to getting the magazine and be as surprised and delighted as I am ever time I do!

Posted in Aging, Mid-Life, Retirement | No Comments »

What a great idea!!??

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

FROM:  Steve   :)   With tongue planted firmly in cheek!!  :)

No nursing home for us. I am checking into the Holiday Inn! 
With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old and feeble. 

I have already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it’s $49.23 per night.   That leaves $138.77 a day for: Breakfast, lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a spa, swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc.  Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap. 

$5 worth of tips a day will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. They treat you like a customer, not a patient. There is a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. 

To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays.

For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there.  While you’re at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up.   

It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today.   And you are not stuck in one place forever, you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city.  Want to see Hawaii ?  They have a Holiday Inn there too. 

TV broken?  Light bulb need changing?  Need a mattress replaced? No problem. They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience.  

The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they will call the undertaker or an ambulance.   If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days of mini-vacation.  The grand kids can use the pool. 
What more can you ask for?

 So, when we reach that golden age, 
We’ll face it with a grin. 
Just forward all our email to:     
HOLIDAY INN

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ITS NOT THE YEARS IN YOUR LIFE THAT COUNT,
ITS THE LIFE IN YOUR YEARS!

:)     Keep Smilin’   :)

Posted in Aging, Retirement | 1 Comment »

Vitamin D Can Reduce Heart Disease and Diabetes in Older People!!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

FROM: Steve

Here is some cutting-edge health news.  You will be hearing a lot more about Vitamin D in the future as an alternative to taking expensive and potentially dangerous drugs.  Keep your eyes peeled for more information like this.

Middle aged and elderly people with higher levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to researchers at the University of Warwick (England).   A team of researchers at Warwick Medical School carried out a scientific review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X).

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in foods like fortified milk and fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel.  It is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis. And finally it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed that higher levels of Vitamin D resulted in a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% lower), type 2 diabetes (55% lower) and metabolic syndrome (51% lower). 

The review, published in the journal Maturitas, was led by Johanna Parker and Dr Oscar Franco, Assistant Professor in Public Health at Warwick Medical School.

Dr Franco said: “We found that high levels of vitamin D among middle age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.  Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of such disorders.”

This study is especially important for those of us in midlife and beyond.  Denise Houston, PhD, RD, assistant professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who has done extensive research on vitamin D and the elderly believes that even those living in Florida and Hawaii, where sunshine is abundant year-round, often are deficient. She offers several reasons why this is so. With age, the skin’s ability to make vitamin D is reduced — in fact, older adults produce only about one-quarter the amount of vitamin D from the sun as do younger people.  Also, older people are often less likely to spend time outdoors in the sun and many wear long sleeves (and use sunscreen) when they do go out, she said.

Few people get sufficient Vitamin D from their diet. Dr. Houston an easy and sure way to get enough is to supplement with Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), the more active form of the vitamin. She recommends that people age 50 or older take a daily supplement containing from 1000 to 2000 IU of vitamin D3.

Suzanne and I both supplement our diets with extra Vitamin D and feel GREAT!

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Midlife and Beyond: Change vs. Transition

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

FROM:  Suzanne & Steve

There is no doubt that we face changes when we get to midlife and beyond.  What was once known as “retirement age” seemed to be the watermark for the changes of growing older.  But nowadays changes related to aging and health (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) can happen earlier or much later.  And it is best to be aware, if not actually prepared for whatever happens.

In his book, Managing Transitions, William Bridges distinguishes between “change,” which he describes as external and public, and “transition,” which is internal, private, and psychological.  He claims that change is relatively easy but transitions are more difficult and emotionally demanding.  He states “Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation….and, it is these interior processes of learning and adaptation—not the external facts of change—that are underestimated and can be treacherous to one’s health and happiness.”

Bridges claims that in our highly mobile society, where change and ambition are considered coin of the realm, people fail to recognize that any transition process—in life, in love, in work—not only requires adapting to a new situation, but it means letting go of old habits. 

If we take traditional retirement as an example, there is a distinct “ending” followed by a challenging “neutral zone,” a kind of no-man’s-land between the old reality and the new where a person wrestles with issues of personal and professional identity.  How a person manages the fears and inhibitions, the ambivalence and ambiguities of this period determines how healthy, happy, and productive the “new beginning” that the rest of one’s life will be.

 Take care with the transitions of midlife and beyond to make the rest of one’s life the best of one’s life!

Posted in Aging, Retirement | No Comments »

Enjoy the Ride. There Is No Return Ticket!

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

From:  STEVE

Here is some philosophy from a guest author/thinker.  Especially for those of you, like Suzanne and I, in midlife and beyond.  Enjoy! 

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.  ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five!  That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16!
 And then the greatest day of your life ! You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony.YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling.. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone…

But! wait!! You MAKE IT to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30,  PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE IT to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’ May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning.  Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s family name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. 

7.  Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

 
9. Don’t take guilt trips.. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
 
 AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
 And if you don’t send this to at least 8 people – who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘..holy sh*t ….what a ride!’

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Good advice, n’est-ce pas?  Have a GREAT day!

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