"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Living the Good Life

     This morning I read one of those aol stories (doncha hate aol?) that offers ten ways to look younger than you really are.

     Get plenty of sleep . . . check.

     Avoid stress . . . check.

     Get plenty of exercise . . . hmmm, maybe.

     Engage in enough sex . . . not tellin'.

     Don't consume too much sugar . . . darn!

     But it seems that living a longer, healthier life is on the minds of more than the headline writers at aol who can be counted on to overpromise and underdeliver. It's on the minds of thoughtful, substantive Baby Boomer bloggers as well.

     Carol Cassara of Heart, Mind, Soul shows us how to succeed with the latest healthy eating and detox plan. So run over to her blog to read about How to Succeed on the Whole 30, a regimen that eliminates dairy, grains and sugar from your diet -- but apparently allows potatoes, chicken, fish, bison meat and (like every other healthy diet) all the vegetables you can eat.

     And for a checkup of your mental health, you might take a quick look at Who You Are which suggests that who we really are may not be who we imagine we are.

     Another person concerned with mental health is Laura Lee Carter, who in The Lives of Frontier Women and Me wonders about relocation in retirement. The pioneers, she points out, were often going west in order to try to find themselves, or else to try to lose themselves. Sometimes, in retirement, aren't we doing pretty much the same thing?

Living La Pura Vida
     Meanwhile, Meryl Baer and her husband are off on a trip to the land of Pura Vida, or Costa Rica. While her travels, as detailed in her post Exploring the Country of La Pura Vida, might produce enough stress to drive you to an early grave, the concept of Pura Vida, which tells us to take it easy and enjoy ourselves, definitely sounds like a recipe for a long and happy life.

     Rita Robison takes on the negative health effects of violence in the media. In case you missed it, go to Superbowl 2017: Ads Mostly Unremarkable but Violence Takes a New Turn to see her examples: a man gets slapped when he tries to grab a sandwich, people destroy a restaurant in a brawl, aging bikers get in a fight, and a T Mobile ad makes a joke of violence against women.

     I think we can all agree that violence plays no part in a long and healthy life. And so also stay tuned for Robison's upcoming analysis of the current Oscar nominated movies for violence, ageism and sexism.

     Finally, Kathy Gottberg in Happy Relationships Are Key to Positive Aging reports that she and her husband are experimenting with their diets by lowering their consumption of wheat and sugar. In the process she has discovered that one of the great gifts of a good long-term relationship is its positive impact in the areas of life satisfaction and well-being. But don't necessarily believe her, or me. She points to studies showing that happy, connected people have stronger immune systems, better heart function and longer lives, regardless of baseline fitness or other life circumstances.

     But for all of us, no matter what our diets or relationships, no matter how much or little we have in life, maybe we can realize that we are all here together, and life is short, so we can start living it "pura vida" style.

13 comments:

Kathy @ SMART Living 365.com said...

Hey Tom! Isn't it great that we were all thinking similar thoughts this week about happiness, healthy and positive aging. Thanks for including me as always. Now I'm going to check out everyone else's post! ~Kathy

Tabor said...

i will try. But at my age this diet restriction stuff without visible rewards is not cutting it.

stephen Hayes said...

I don't pay attention to my mental health. My wife tells me I don't have any.

Rian said...

I think that as we age, we do pay more attention to health, but unless a person has a particular problem (diabetes, heart, etc.), just eating sensibly and *in moderation* should be OK in my book. Why cut out what you really enjoy as long as you don't overdo it?

Anonymous said...

Geez, if a person hits 95 like my friend and neighbor well he did something right..He does suffer from macular degeneration and can only recognize me very close to my face and my voice he recognizes me immediately..But he is happy and the fellow across the street at nearly 91 seems to be happy, of course he is on his 3rd wife, the other friend lost his of nearly 50 years to alzheimers she had it for 11 years and never ever complained when she passed away he cried buckets and told me and my hubs all about it he had to tell his story to someone and we are friends. I say enjoy whatever time you have on this earth in a moderate way and make people happy not sad they see and greet you daily!

retirementreflections said...

Funny, my answers to the AOL questions are exactly the same as yours!

I second Kathy Gottberg's recent post. I am off to check out the other links that you mentioned.

DJan said...

Most of these I had already read, but there are a few I'll check out. Don't do aol, though. Yesterday I treated myself to a couple of pieces of fabulous chocolate truffles, but usually little sugar in my diet. :-)

rolekkyle said...

Excellent read
Kyle Rolek CFP®

Wisewebwoman said...

Good read. I've cut out the wheat and sugar for long stretches and then hit it again like a crack addict. Aging is a minefield of does and fonts and this obsession (and marketing) around not looking one's age drives me nuts. Why the denial? We are the privileged and lucky.


XO
WWW

Anonymous said...

Live and let live - that is my motto.

Anonymous said...

The ultimate question is Why? Why not eat what you want...if you can. Why not take it easy...if you can. Sorry, I can't engage in too much angst over this middle class dilemma. With half the wold's people dispossessed and/or staving, it seems petty to dwell on how long we will live. Every person I know, and I've known a half dozen, who reached 100 has said to me...You shouldn't live this long. the key is a life well lived not living long.

Dr Sock said...

I'm very interested in the topics you write about here, Tom. Certainly retirement offers the time to address the factors of lifestyle and health that too often are backgrounder to the demands of work and family in earlier stages of life.

Jude

Barbara said...

Grrr. AOL keeps sending me news about our President. I'm trying to forget what we did. Got to find that unsubscribe button.