Who do you want to be at 60, 70, 80, 90? How will you get there?
Remember when September meant the start of the school year? As a student, you weren’t sure what lay ahead, but you knew it was the beginning of something.
September is also Healthy Aging Month, and a great time to start something that will improve your health as your life progresses. It is also a great time to debunk common myths of aging and dive into activities that foster good health and vitality.
Whatever age you are now, think about yourself in 10, 20, or 30 years. What do you hope to be doing? How would you like to live? What can you do now to realize your ideal self?
If you are 50 years or older, think about how you would like your older-adult years to unfold. This is no time to stop learning and becoming; opportunity lies ahead.
Aging ≠ Illness. Aging does mean accumulated experience, wisdom, empathy, and better understanding of the human experience.
A recent study by researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford (England) found that while young people learn faster when the choices they make benefit themselves, older adults learn faster when their choices benefit others.
September is a good time to use that accumulated wisdom to think about the future and map a plan. What have you always wanted to do? Paint, play an instrument, learn another language, mentor someone, hike a famous trail, volunteer, start a business, take a course just for the fun of it? Healthy Aging Month is a reminder to start that journey.
Read related work by Margaret Franckhauser:
