Personal Perspective. For healthy aging, focus on awareness. Every movement is done best with a sharp focus on the immediate event.
To age well, we need exercise, stretching, balancing, and socialization, but also something far more crucial.The world is falling apart, but we live in a blessed time when damaged body parts can be replaced, like brake pads on an old car.
I once fell a full flight of stairs, ending with only a trace of scratches on my forehead, but then, I was only 68. If that ever happened to me now, I might not have been able to write this. Some people fall, break a bone, and realize that risks can have consequences that can be avoided. Others fall and break the critical bones that can not easily be replaced. And still others fall and, sorry to be realistic, bleed to death. My writing about age comes directly from my sense of time in aging and my book about time, but also indirectly from my 83 years of experiencing life with a sense of where it's heading. Missing friends and relatives who are no longer alive accelerates through every one of those flying years of aging. But aging can also be glorious if we wake each morning with a sense of connection to our loved ones, the food that has always been a gift of nature, and the sight of flowers blooming.are the smart behaviors that bring the bliss of aging. The World Health Organization tells us that people experiencing declines can stay well and on one’s feet, which is possible under supportive environments that can “ensure that they can still get where they need to go and do what they need to do.”. In our younger years, we tend to multitask the most common functions of our routine days, as if they are involuntary actions, instincts like breathing, and taught practices such as walking by placing one foot in front of the other. Awareness does not require us to pay fullto the parts of multiple reflexive taskings all at once. In our younger days, we were capable of juggling most of our tasks without awareness., a state of active, open attention to the present. Awareness is a focused attention to the moment. The object of one’s attention to oneself and the momentary state of one’s surroundings. There is an age when awareness, and more specifically attention, needs to focus on the moments of your thoughts and movements. The conscious process of focusing on what is happening, moment by moment, becomes essential at that age. It’s not about forgetting where your car keys are. Twenty-somethings misplace car keys. It’s about awareness of the steps ahead, steps one can fall from, and steps that can lead to, broadly speaking, breaking a nose as it hits a glass door. While the CDC suggestions for aging emphasize social engagement and physical activity, such as aerobic and balance exercises, and focusing on awareness of risks, its emphasis is on preventing falls by altering homes for safety and managing active social lifestyles. My emphasis is on the awareness of one’s movements while focusing on the moments of those actions. Be aware of your surroundings; what is in front of you, and especially, what is behind? At a young age, driving a car does not require absolute attention for what is ahead or behind. Old age, though, needs focusing. The multitasking that was almost instinctive at a young age wears thin with advancing age. A constant awareness should be the top recommendation over the other CDC suggestions. I still ski, bike, paddleboard, and drive, but I force myself to be far more alert in every one of those activities to not fall into something regrettable. I am beginning to feel aged, but with my more consistent, clear awareness, age seems to come with the gift of bliss, even though I know that the number of years ahead is fewer.Whatever your goals, it’s the struggle to get there that’s most rewarding. It’s almost as if life itself is inviting us to embrace difficulty—not as punishment but as a design feature. It's a robust system for growth.Self Tests are all about you. Are you outgoing or introverted? Are you a narcissist? Does perfectionism hold you back? Find out the answers to these questions and more with Psychology Today.
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