How to Become a Rock Star of Aging

Health Wellness

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How well are you or your loved-ones aging?

Yes, genetics plays a vital role in how many of us age, but there are also things we do that help determine if we age poorly or gracefully.

I know some families where many of their members live well into their 90s and other families where few live past their 50s. A few years back, there was a story of a man who committed suicide on his 50th birthday, because every male in his dad’s family died before the age of 55.

I know many farmers seem to age gracefully and this is largely attributed to their lifestyle of good eating and active lives. Many seem to think that many farmers eat healthy diets, but many of them I know eat lots of red meat, fatty food and bad carbs in addition to eating lots of vegetables and fruit. For many city-dwellers, eating a diet like many farmers would put on the pounds, harden the arteries and increase chances of heart disease, diabetes and strokes, in addition to a number of other ailments, which leaves us to consider their active lifestyles as playing more of a role in how they age than their diets do.

Talk to older folks and you’ll hear a number of reasons they give for their long lives. Years ago, I was the manager of the liquor department for a store and one of my customers was in his 90s. He came in every other day and bought a pint of bourbon whiskey. He told me that everyone in his family who started drinking before they turned 50, never lived to see 80, but that most of the family who started drinking at age 50, lived into their 90s like him.

It’s not a system I would recommend, but two complete strangers recently shared basically the same reasons why they were still going strong. Harlene Goodrich, 80, and Dorothy Kelly, 91 are deemed to be rock stars of aging. Living on opposite ends of the country, here are the keys they both gave for not only their longevity, but for their still being healthy and active.

  • Forming and reforming circles of supportive friends
  • Actively participating in political and non-political groups
  • Finding outlets for creative talents
  • Keeping physically active
  • Staying emotionally active in ways that inspire the mind and nurture the spirit

Anne Newman, 62, professor and chair of epidemiology in the Graduate School of Public Health at University of Pittsburgh, commented, saying:

“I don’t think we give enough respect to what it takes to age well — until it happens to you. It’s a balance between fighting it and accepting it that requires a great deal of grace and courage.”

Oh yeah, there is one other factor that Goodrich, Kelly and Newman say plays a key role in aging well and is perhaps one of the key factors: humor. Yes, humor. Goodrich, a retired schoolteacher from California, commented:

“Humor is an important thing when you reach the point in your life when every week contains at least one doctor’s appointment.”

Kelly added:

“I’ve always preferred to look at the happy things in life. When I turn off the light at night, I turn off the world. “

“Aging starts when you’re younger and continues when you’re older.”

In other words, don’t try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, or it will weigh you down into your grave at a younger age. Keep smiling and look for the good things in others and in life, in addition to trying to live to the list of factors above.  If need be make some changes in your life in order to help you become a rock star of aging.

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