We make choices each day toward a healthier and cleaner lifestyle. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, lifestyle plays a significant role in aging well when it comes to senior health. Strong family ties, healthy food and lifelong physical activity are important for all of us through the aging process.
Although we can't avoid 100% of the chemicals and pollutants in our environment and they probably DO interfere with our aging "gracefully," we'd like to take control of the aging process to make our wonder years the best yet!
Let's not focus on the word "old" but rather on healthy ways to grow old. You can't turn back the clock, but the choices you make may help you age well. Those choices, many times, are not just dietary but rather choosing a way of life; a way of forward-thinking.
Here are some steps to aging gracefully:
- An attitude adjustment (if necessary)
- Slow down and enjoy the ride
- Skip the complaints. They're boring
- Keep busy: A solution to boredom
- Work to have good family relations
- Stop the blame game
- Find fun things to do
- Watch your weight and exercise
- Decide to be positive
There are those who continue to find meaning in their lives as they age. It's a challenge, but try finding things that are important to you. This includes, travel, hobbies, learning something new, like the computer, something spiritual like yoga or tai chi. Or just find the time to spend with friends and family you love. Also, get out there and walk in the fresh air as often as you can. Even if it's for a few minutes a day.
Here are some quotes about healthy aging. Enjoy!
"You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology."
~Deepak Chopra
"Ava Gardner was the most beautiful woman in the world, and it's wonderful that she didn't cut up her face. She addressed aging by picking up her chin and receiving the light in a better way. And she looked like a woman. She never tried to look like a girl."
~Sharon Stone
"Aging has a wonderful beauty and we should have respect for that."
~Earth Kitt
"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength."
~Betty Friedan