Aging happens so quickly. One day you’re raising kids, working, buying a home and sending kids off to college Then, before you have a chance to catch your breath, you’re filling out Medicare forms, adjusting your lifestyle, and waking up to new aches and pains. It’s called aging and many of us arrive at it kicking and screaming and refusing to accept the inevitable, and that is: You’re aging—and that’s not going to change! So why not try letting go and embracing it. It’s called Positive Aging, and it’s your best friend and partner!
Positive aging begins with self-acceptance and ends in self-empowerment. You have all the control. When you don’t embrace aging you spend your time in a negative battle with something you can’t change. Accepting aging means you decide how you want to age. You decide your age relevance. You determine your boundaries and limits. You choose for yourself. So you shift, adjust, accept, get out of your own way and give yourself a whole new set of opportunities that can enhance your aging experience. One possible adjustment to consider is how you communicate.
Many of us want things to remain the same. You’d rather a phone call to a text or a written note to an email. I remember how my Mom refused to text or email her grandkids. She felt they should write or call her. Well, they never did because those weren’t their modes of communication, simple as that! And trust me; we all begged our kids to call or write her, but all they replied was, “Why can’t she learn to email or text?” They weren’t bad kids, just kids today!
Eventually, Mom made the shift and met them on their communication platforms. It didn’t take long before she was flooded with photos and words of love and support and instantly turned her negative experience into a positive one! What shifts, adjustments or acceptances can you make in your life that might enhance your aging experience? So many positive things are possible when you let go and get out of your own way.
Pat Landaker is a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and a Senior Lifestyle Consultant. She is owner of the Living La Vida Senior brand, serves on the City of Henderson’s Senior Citizens Advisory Commission and teaches Positive Aging at UNLV/OLLI. Contact her at positiveaging54@gmail.com..