No matter how old you are, its time to become more aware of positive aging and to integrate positive aging strategies into your day-to-day life!
Aging attacks everything. As we get older we lose function and become more prone to age related diseases. Risks of many health problems increase as we age. Many of these diseases can end life much quicker than we anticipated or can have a significant negative affect on our quality of life and well-being later in life.
To counter the affects of aging we need to become aware of the aging process, and respond in ways to slow aging and in some cases reverse the aging process. Both slowing down and reversing aging are the focus of the science based anti-aging movement. There has always been great interest in anti-aging, but we are starting to see more promising research based results that could make for significant impact on positive aging in the near future (more on that in subsequent posts).
While we wait, pretty much every expert on aging recommends focusing on six simple things to extend your life and help with a positive later in life experience and improved well-being. The six simple things are:
- Diet – nutrition, healthy biome…
- Exercise
- Sleep – proper amount and quality
- Perspective – self-awareness, world view… (much more on this in subsequent posts)
- “Medical monitoring” – measure things important to your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual fitness; regular medical checkups and tests… Ultimately be responsible for yourself first (and others).
- Don’t smoke!
The six items in this list will be greatly expanded upon as we focus on positive aging and the concepts and practices from positive psychology, and other sciences.
As a starting point we need to incorporate the above six things into our life as early as possible. Most people are probably aware of the six but like many others have not fully integrated them into their lives as intently as they should or they have lost their way a bit as they aged. We need to develop and maintain a “positive aging mindset” as early as possible to ensure a positive later in life experience and optimal well-being.
If you have lost track of some of the six, no matter what age you are it is time to get back on-track. A positive aging mindset is a responsibility that we all must develop. It is the contribution you must make to yourself, your family and friends, your community, your province/state, your country, and society in general (more on this in subsequent posts).
In future posts, we will expand on the six, other areas and things we can do to support positive aging.
The PositiveAger.
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