Get old chronologically but stay young in Mind and Body!
(I will explain this statement at the end of this post)
The simple answer is …….. KEEP BUSY!!!!!!
3 Main Ways
- STAY SOCIAL
Look forward to the day coming, the week coming, the year coming, and beyond.
To do this you must get into a community that is active. Do you have friends? Do you talk to them 3 or 4 times a week? Do they have similar interests as yours? When you are with them, do you enjoy yourself and are you having fun? These are only some of the criteria that it takes to know you’re living in the right community.
If this is not the type of community you live in and you can financially afford it, maybe you should look for one that is more social.
If moving is not a choice, you need to find a senior center or become a leader in the community you currently live in, to start creating a more social atmosphere.
In whatever community you live in, make an effort to meet people and make friends with as many as you can, socialize with them by being involved in the activities your community is providing. You need to take part in the programs the residents sponsor, such as dinner parties, dances, cards & other game parties and, Oh, I almost forgot, cocktail parties (my favorite).
- GET INVOLVED
You must get involved in your community. My wife, Rita, and I have been involved in almost every activity in ours. We’ve found many new friends, learned some new skills & had a ball doing it. You don’t HAVE to participate in everything but at least give different activities a chance.
Rita was chairman of our community dance committee for 7 or 8 years. We all organized and sponsored 4 themed dances per year.
Some of themes we created were Mardi Gras, Hawaiian luau, Evening in Paris, Roaring 20’s and of course, various holidays.
For each dance, we had a committee for coming up with the theme, making and purchasing the various decorations and setup. Because Rita is an artist and I’m just the “brawn”, she would draw at least a half dozen life size characters, I would cut them out of lightweight wood, she and the committee would paint them. The brawny ones ( the guys) would try to figure out how make them stand up &/or make them work if they had working parts. Our committee was very adept at improvising, building and setting up our dances.
In future posts we’ll talk about our luau with a working 10ft. waterfall & fire-breathing volcano, our full sized (almost) western wagon with real wheels, tongue and canvas top, and many others.
Anyway, Rita and the rest of the gals on the committee got all the compliments, while the guys (the brawny ones) just stood there and smiled at how creative our wives were. Rita has a million ideas but she needs me to put them into action. Kidding aside, I am proud of Rita and I’m proud of all that we are able to do together.
The dance committee was only one of the many projects we’ve been involved in, in our community. There are quite a few more.
- DO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF
One project I was in charge of that I am very proud of, was the Senior Games we held in our community. This was a charity endeavor that got a majority of our residents involved (over 400people). I’ll discuss this in greater detail in another post, also.
I think you can see, in just the little bit I’ve talked about, we do keep busy.
We moved into our community in 2008 when I was ##@$%** old and Rita was #$%@@$$$$$$ old ( she loves the $ sign). The only hint I will give you is that we moved into an over 55 age community ( but we lied about our age, haha!).
I would encourage anyone, if you qualify, to seriously consider a 55 and older community. Our interests are similar, our free time is similar, financially we are somewhat similar, and, we don’t have children to slow us down, etc,etc,etc.
TO STAY HEALTHY and TO FEEL YOUNG
KEEP BUSY!
Let me leave this post with … This explanation to the opening statement;
We should all be in favor of getting old “Chronologically” if you consider the other option.
But getting old in “mind” and “body” is a matter of CHOICE!!!
How are you filling your retirement days? Are you having fun?