Although aging well is best done from healthy lifestyle choices early on in life, it is never too late to start from where you are at this present moment.
Aging well demands a combined biopsychosocial perspective as a minimum baseline requirement.
Aging well holistically, requires various levels of wise engagement in the following 7 domains of wise holistic health and well-being.
Education Wise One of the most important things you can do for the aging brain is to treat education as a life-long practice where you are continuously learning something new and interesting. In the process of learning new things your brain is building new neural network connections and strengthening some of the older connections. If you always wanted to learn how to swim, play the piano, learn ballroom dance, write poetry, a play, or a novel, paint or do needlework—go for it! Yes, you are older than you used to be but you are still quite capable of pursuing your passions. Whether you are 60 or 80, if you want to go back to school and further your education—you can.
Read, read, read. Read about another culture. See if you can understand the world from their perspective. If you can, plan a trip to visit the place and people of the other culture and get a first-hand experience through engaging the people you have studied. Many tools and resources are available to assist you in improving, rethinking you, and the context of life you have left to live. Take advantage of the many available resources that can improve your well-being. Learn about the latest technology. Be computer, internet, and cell phone savvy. Discover new possibilities by keeping an open, curious mind. Rigid, narrow thinking constricts your life options, your potential, and your opportunities for an enriched and enhanced life.
Environment Wise The context of your environment has a great influence on your health and well-being. Think about the types of environmental settings that make you comfortable, happy, and at peace. What are your surroundings like? Who are the people around you? What items and where do you place the things that are important to you because they reflect your personality and the life you have lived? Some elderly prefer to live in senior living units for the supportive help that is offered. For others aging well means staying independent as they continue to live in their own home. You have an indoor and an outdoor environment to enjoy. Make both living spaces uniquely yours in ways that express your creativity, and meets your needs. If you love gardening you don’t have to abandon it as you get older. Downsize to a manageable mini garden or a few potted plants. Know your outdoor environment. Know the area you live in. Expand your outdoor adventures by visiting local parks, museums, zoos, festivals, and outdoor concerts. If you live in the city, occasionally visit the country. If you live in the country, occasionally visit the city. If you cannot take a trip to another country, visit it on the internet for a vicarious experience of how others live and interact within their environment.
Financially Wise Financial wisdom or financial capacity is the ability to wisely manage your money to meet your needs. The money left over after meeting needs and debt obligations, is what you use to meet your wants. Many factors can impact your financial health as you age. For example, retirement or the death of a spouse can affect your financial standing. Moving into a lower socioeconomic bracket limits your available financial resources. The cost of aging can be of great concern for many. In a situation of critical health crisis, mounting medical debt can deplete your savings. The money you counted on using in your latter years may be gone when you need it the most. Insufficient personal financial resources, necessary to meet your basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter may require you to reach out to family, friends, and community agencies as resources to augment and fill in the gaps, to cover what you don't have, but really need.
At this age in your life, the importance of ‘getting your affairs in order’ has never been more necessary. Seriously consider downsizing from the ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated over the years. Get rid of possessions you no longer use. Pass things on to loved ones, donate to those you know are in need. Call your local charity, they will gladly pick it all up and carry it away.
Discuss your intentions about advance care as well as wishes for end of life care and funeral plans with your family, a care planner, your primary care doctor, an elder advocate, and an attorney to get legal matters formalized. Know and understand your options for managing your finances. You have to make sound financial decisions in your ability to manage your money to meet your needs. Remember: money is a tool for well-being. It is not the focus of life. It is not the essence of life, but it is a necessary element needed to live a life.
Physically Wise Physical health is one of the most important characteristics for positive aging and well-being. Bodily physiological, biological, and neurological health is supported through optimal nutrition intake. This wisdom suggests choosing to eat a healthy diet, taking vitamins and supplements as necessary, and being moderate in alcohol consumption. Establishing the habit of clean eating and regular exercise should become a well-practiced life skill acquired early in life. Physical wisdom posits you can avoid the potholes of later life by becoming physically active, early in life, and remaining so throughout your lifespan.
Exercise increases your strength and vigor, pumping the blood full of the oxygen your major organs crave. If you become ill or have a catastrophic injury, you may be better able to recover if you are recovering from a position of good health rather than feeble health. Exercise helps you stay alert during the day and sleep better at night. It is never too late to start exercising and eating the right foods. You can begin today for a better tomorrow.
Health care becomes a major factor in aging well in the context of injury, illness, and chronic disease management. Being proactive in your health care requires you to stay attuned to unusual bodily changes and not ignore signs and symptoms of impending illness. Seeking medical advice or treatment when needed, understanding medical treatment options and medications prescribed, and having an advocate present at appointments to help you understand your medical issues are wise health practices.
Psychologically Wise There are many salient components to positive mental health. Primacy varies among the aged. Some place great importance on stable, active, relationships with spouse, children, friends, and family as integral to their mental well-being. For others, psychological health is gained through having command, grasp or mastery of a special ability or skill. Mastery helps one feel successful, competent, optimal, vital, productive and active. Still others report spirituality as the source of their psychological well-being. Having a sense of purpose is recognized as an important resource for maintaining health and well-being over the life span.
Psychological wisdom is embedded in the use of an adaptive coping style that buffers a person through the ups and downs of stressful life events. For some elderly, going through major life problems, this adaptive quality is often construed as ‘mind over matter’ in not letting a particular circumstance, negative diagnosis, setback, or tragic event override all hope in the possibilities of a better day to come. It is faith in personal ability to eventually recover and move forward with life.
Psychological health and well-being has eudemonic and hedonic, evaluative, and affective dimensions. Attitude, values, and beliefs play a major role in how you feel about yourself, others, and the world you live in. Two of the biggest emotional threats to healthy aging are loneliness and depression. Loneliness and depression become especially problematic when levels of social support reach their lowest point in the latter years of life.
Socially Wise Humans are social beings. The need to remain socially engaged on some level is essential to aging well. But, there is some variation in needfulness or desirability in type and quantity of social relationships. Some elderly desire numerous engagements, while others prefer various levels of disengagement as normal to his/her aging. Fewer engagements allow the person to focus on the quality of their limited relationships.
Maintain your social relationships with family, friends, and community. Establish new friendships as desired. Re-engage old or neglected relationships. Focus on those relationships that are positive and bring happiness and joy into your life. Let go of negative, life-draining relationships that tend to be full of unnecessary emotional drama. You don’t have forever to squeeze out the goodness in yourself and others. Focus on the ‘good stuff’ –whatever that means to you.
Spiritually Wise Know your spiritual orientation. How do you personally achieve a state of grace and spiritual wisdom? Practice aging well through the presence of God. Religion, meditation, reflection, and connection with nature provide transcendence experiences. Discover for yourself, what is most likely to provide these experiences for you, at this time in your life. What spiritual practices speak well to your soul? Use these practices to foster resiliency through life’s vicissitudes and to help you engage in a form of spiritually oriented aging responses.
Wisdom requires you to take the knowledge you’ve gained from life experiences, truth, and principles and apply this knowledge to your daily life. Spiritually wise is observing, thinking, and operating from a position of compassion, gratitude, and loving-kindness. Spiritual wisdom aligns the mind, body, and spirit. Insight on effective application of spiritually based knowledge and principles comes from learning to listen, practicing humility, and learning to follow before becoming a leader. Typical avenues for spiritual wisdom include exploring divine nature, exploring the meaning of life, exploring the meaning of death, and exploring sacred texts. You want to develop and grow a spiritually intuitive mindful awareness.
Summary Only you can determine what 'aging well' means to you. Increase your life satisfaction. Look over the above seven areas of holistic aging and think about your own situation. What areas do you need to work on? Sort through them, reorder them according to your preference of importance and begin to work on each area to improve your personal well-being. The holistic, comprehensive, interrelated threads of personal environment, education, financial, social, spiritual, psychological, and physical aging, can synergistically work together, propelling you to the best possible well-being at this time in your life.
Look in the WELL-BEING section for addition articles, ideas and research-based, information you can use to engage and guide your thinking and decision-making skills to enhance each area of your life.
Look in the RESOURCE section on this website for additional information, fresh ideas, and help from organizations and agencies.