How do you enjoy life?

If you surf this question, Google will show you ten articles about the subject on the first page, alone.  It will also show you that no less than 3 billion people are as interested to know the answer.

And you should, too, because, at this point in your life, your primordial concern should be to enjoy life – the more the better.

Here’s why…

Old age is the high time to enjoy life – the more, the better. You have had a fruitful career, you may be grayer, but wiser. You are happy and confident with yourself and the things you’ve accomplished, and the time and freedom to do all you want to do.

Evil Knievel said,

“I decided to fly through the air, and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could.”

Sadly, enjoying life is not bestowed upon retirement. To bask in the rejuvenating rays of sunlight, you must get out from under a shade – no easy task for seniors with chronic diseases and money problems. Others are so rapt up in the trivialities of life forgetting that a lot of things we worry about are nothing but mists that will disappear at the break of dawn.

I learned this the hard way.

A lot of seniors are in a worse situation than you.

While confiding with my daughter about being depressed over something, she immediately snapped back saying, “You have no reason to be depressed. There are a lot of old people out there in a lot worse situation than you.?

She was right. We could never enjoy life if we are so self-focused; if we think that the world revolves around us.

That experience made me recall all the life lessons I learned through the years the hard way. To enjoy life…

1.  Don’t overthink

Don’t overthink, especially about your problems.

Problems are necessary components of living. We all have them. But people who are enjoying life realize that problems are either real or imagined, serious or light and act on them accordingly.

Overthinking is bad because you are unnecessarily taxing your brain over things without basis, or may never happen at all.

Instead of fussing over an issue, analyze it carefully, act accordingly then move on.

As the saying goes, “Don’t worry, be happy.”

2.  Minimize stress

Stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. This response could be physical, mental, emotional in nature. Most of the time it is a combination of all.

It is a normal part of life and could be positive or negative.

Stress is positive if it alerts you to a threat or danger by motivating you to move or avoid it.

But when it becomes constant, even chronic without relief or relaxation, it will overtax your stress response mechanism resulting in the emotional wear and tear of the body.

It becomes harmful if it results in the compulsive use of stress-relieving substances.

When you feel stressed out, remember this – “…There’s going to be stress in life, but it’s your choice whether you let it affect you or not,” – Valerie Bertinelli.

3.  Keep busy

If you want to live long, keep busy – that’s what Andre Maurois meant when he said,

“Growing old is no more than a bad habit which is a busy person has no time to form.”

Busy people are happy. They are never bored and their brains are always working. They are productive and, in a much greater sense, they are enjoying life.

4.  Love

Love is a feeling that nurtures positive energy to a tired and lonely soul. Loving someone else or yourself is kind of a well-spring that nourishes your body and mind each day of your life.

It makes you care and share and, if necessary, bear the brunt of the vicissitudes of old age with a smile.

It makes you cherish and enjoy each passing moment of your life. And gives you a ton of health benefits.

5.  Socialize

Having a close-knit of friends is one of the best ways to enjoy life.  Good, supportive friends increase your self-confidence and self-worth. They make you feel secure.

Good friends can boost your physical, mental and emotional health. They are a good hedge against loneliness and isolation. They help reduce stress and can contribute to longevity.

Socializing these days is a lot easier than decades ago when you had to walk a mile to see an old friend. Now, you can reach them any time of the day, wherever they may be. They are just a click away.

6.  Be grateful

Nothing sets your day right better than to say a prayer of gratitude for living another day, of seeing another sunrise, of being with your loved ones.

Being grateful in all things – big and small – gives you more positive emotions, enjoy a good experience, improves your health, builds strong relationships and allows you to deal with adversity.

Expressing gratitude, to give lasting happiness, is not simply saying “Thank you,” but by having a cheerful and grateful disposition.

7.  Have faith

Faith is complete trust or confidence in a person, thing, or concept.

The life of an elderly is not a leisurely drive along the freeway but a roller coaster ride. In some days, you are up, in others, you are down. There are many unexpected twists and turns that can make you lose traction, direction, or purpose.

What evens them out, the equalizer is faith.

You can lose everything or everyone in your life but never lose faith. With faith,  you can withstand the worst storms in life. Without it, a soft breeze will topple you down.

At 71, I am enjoying life to the fullest. But it was not like this a couple of years ago. Arriving at this level of enlightenment can be likened to that of Gautama’s.

A couple or so years back, I used to overthink. That habit usually led to anxiety or bouts of depression. Until one day, my daughter socked it to me straight (mentioned above).

That episode made me sit under my own Bodhi tree and recalled all the life lessons I learned from the past and put them to good use.

You, too, can.

Please share.

~oOo~

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The post Seven Life Lessons to Help You Enjoy Life More first appeared on Age With Charm.

Do you want to live a healthy life Then don’t burn your midnight candle searching for ways from the Internet. You can’t find them there. Don’t fall for things like:

–  Foods that Lower Cholesterol Naturally,
–  Super Foods that Help You Live Longer,
–  Walking may Reduce Cardiovascular Disease by 50% and many others.

They don’t work any more than I become a Caucasian by dying my Asian hair black. Here’s why:

1.  Old age brings a lot of medical issues. Nothing in the world can make you healthy if you are afflicted with any of them. You can only cope with them if you want to enjoy life.

2.  But if you are healthy at your age, nothing can make you any healthier than you already are.

Don’t change anything, just temper them. Changing your lifestyle is stressful and restrictive. It will rob you of the pleasures and joy of old age.

Health is not purely about healthy eating:

Good health for seniors is not just about nutritious foods. There are more important things that make one healthy.

For example, the leading causes of deaths among people 65 years old and above are heart disease and cancer. While these figures are irrefutable, saying that improper diet is one of the major causes of these diseases is going to polarize the health community.

Some will insist that food is crucial to good health, while others won’t. And both sides will present voluminous data to support their stand.

Joshua Rosenthal, founder, and director of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and author of the book Integrative Nutrition will not be on either side.

Mr. Rosenthal says,

“Eating well helps, but don’t expect it to work miracles. It can fill you, but it cannot fulfill you.”

Then he adds,

“If we are not physically starving, other dimensions of human experience are much more important than what we put in our mouths. The foods you eat are secondary to all other things that feed you – your relationships, career, spirituality and exercise routine. All that we consider today as nutrition is really just a secondary source of energy.”

To emphasize the point that nutrition, alone, cannot make you healthy, Dr. Mark Hyman, chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine and author of the book Blood Sugar chimes in by stating:

“95 percent of all illnesses are caused by or worsened by stress… it can disrupt almost all your body’s processes, making none of our organs immune to its effects. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, hypertension, depression, ulcers, headaches and chronic anxiety are all scientifically linked to chronic stress.”

Then he adds, “…the health of your mind and spirit and your sense of connection to your community has an immense impact on the health of your body, In fact…the biggest predictor of longevity is psychological resiliency – being able to roll with the punches life throws at us.”

My take on this…

Two weeks ago, I had chest pains in the evening which forced me to see a doctor the following day. After some examinations and questions, he said that it was not a heart attack.

However, he said that chest pains must not be taken lightly and told me to have some lab tests. He also cautioned me against my smoking – not for cancer because even non-smokers can get cancer. But it is a risk factor for heart attack or stroke at my age.

Towards the end of my consultation, I mentioned in passing that I regularly go for long drives or an overnight stay in beach resorts. He said, “That, too, contributes to good heart health.”

Nobody knows your overall health better than you. You, alone, know what is good or bad for you, what works or doesn’t work. And by this time you must have learned to do what is best for you and do things your way.

Note: All my lab tests were good, i.e., blood chemistry, ECG, and Treadmill.

Please share with other seniors to brighten their day – and do things their way!

~oOo~ 

The post Be Healthy by Doing Things Your Way first appeared on Age With Charm.

Do you know that I start and end my day reciting a mantra I am not doing it because I am into the mind-over-body thing, or I am into this “meditation.“  I do it because it gets me into a positive, hopeful mood; gives me faith that my day will always end right.

But wait, “what is a mantra “ you may ask.

For a layman, a “mantra “  is a word or group of words or a sound repeated several times to aid concentration in meditation.

The word is Hindu in origin and comes from the words “man,“ which means mind, and “tra,“ meaning transport or vehicle. In other words, a mantra is an instrument of the mind to enter into a deep state of meditation.

For people who are not into meditation, like me and you, a mantra is simply the seed for energizing intention.

Mantras are good to ease the ill-effects of aging by refocusing the mind into thinking positive, cheerful, happy and uplifting thoughts.

They help remove stress, depression and can lower blood pressure. And they cost nothing but a few minutes of stillness and concentration.

To get you started in reciting a mantra here are one-liners that are easy to memorize:

1.  I love my body;

2.  I am powerful, or I am strong;

3.  I am enough;

4.  I am at peace, or I am where I am supposed to be;

5.  I have love in my life and joy in my heart;

6.  I trust my path;

7.  I embrace change;

8.  I am worth it;

9.  Be still;

10. Breathe in, breathe out.

If you want poetic mantras, try any one of these:

11.  There are blessings found everywhere. I will find them;

12.  I focus on how I feel, not what I want to achieve;

13.  Accept “what is,” instead of resenting it;

14.  Just to be alive is a grand thing;

15.  I am not a drop in the ocean. I am the entire ocean in a drop;

16.  Don’t postpone joy.;

Now I would like to share with you my mantra:

“Sometimes the best thing we can do is not think, no wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”

I got it online but I can’t remember who passed it on to me. Whoever it was my gratefulness for his act reaches Heaven-wards.

I say this twice a day- early in the morning before I get into my work, and when I am lying flat on my bed for the night.

It works all the time. My mantra gives me stress-free days, and sleep like a baby at night.

Please share to help other seniors who are struggling with adversities all days of their lives.

Image: http://www.reneweveryday.com/how-meditation-could-be-the-key-to-senior-addiction-recovery/

~oOo~

The post Mantras to Help You Through Adversities first appeared on Age With Charm.