What’s on your gratitude list today? If you’re like many of our senior friends, you may feel profound thankfulness that you can participate in simple everyday life, still active in ways not expected in our grandparents’ and parents’ generations. We’re grateful to be among today’s seniors who don’t always look or act like “old people.”
In the picture on the right, Rob and I (79 and 75) are celebrating Thanksgiving in Sedona Arizona. How do we manage to stay young? I believe it starts with attitude: an attitude of gratitude. When you are thankful for small pleasures, you do everything you can to stay fit and avoid illness and decay.
Rob and I are convinced that when it comes to senior health, attention to physical, emotional, and mental health can be the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, many seniors have bought into the concept that “aging equals decay.” They don’t focus on what they can still do, so in come cases, they give in to aging.
Shift to an Attitude of Gratitude
We’d like to reverse that mindset and encourage everyone to join the war on aging. Why do you think so many seniors ignore good advice about exercise and diet? Likely, they’re thoroughly entrenched in habits of a lifetime based on incomplete knowledge from medical experts of the past. Today, we know much more about the body and the brain.
While exercise and diet are super important, a positive attitude contributes to everything and keeps seniors from getting discouraged.
Feeling Grateful Spurs Action
Studies show that having an attitude of gratitude—having a conscious focus on blessings—heightens our well-being. And when seniors feel better, they have lower levels of depression, better sleep quality, and strong biomarkers, such as higher rates of good cholesterol, according to National Council on Aging.
Gratitude helps us see that the glass is half full, rather than empty. It keeps us in a place of hope, rather than fear. When we practice gratitude over time, we are better able to frame and manage challenges that we all face as we age.
From what we see, so many people have bought into the “aging = decay” paradigm that they don’t realize what’s truly possible for them. Most of us need a boost to our thinking if we are going to sustain tactical actions like daily exercising and healthy eating.
Gratitude Leads to Ageless Living
Dr. Christiane Northrup makes this point in her excellent book, Goddesses Never Age, (New York: Hay House Inc., 2015):
Ageless living is what you experience when you engage in life without fear that you’re going to fall—or fall apart…we need to be more aware of our culture’s negative messages about growing older and make a conscious effort to reject them.
What we believe is critical because it will determine the actions we take. Any senior who wants to age well can do so by shifting his mental model to what’s possible, and practicing an attitude of gratitude. What’s on your gratitude list?
Happy thanksgiving, everyday!
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