Who Me Aging? Nah!

I read recently that lots of things begin to diminish as we age.

Duh! No kidding? Hard to believe, isn’t it?

If you are over 50 you probably have noticed staying upright is a challenge, your hearing needs amping up, your eyesight is dimming, processing information takes a bit longer than it did just a year ago, and your skin begins to look like an overused paper bag.

 

If you aren’t experiencing some of these things, you are either under 50 or your spouse is talking louder and reading to you. Or, you could be fooling yourself into believing you aren’t aging. Get a grip, my friend. You are getting older.

I’d worry you might hurt the messenger (that would be me), but I believe I can still run faster than you, and by the time you register what I have just said, I’ll be far enough away that you won’t be able to see me. And throwing rocks won’t work because your throwing arm went out the last time you picked up your grandchild.

Fear not, experts tell us there are things you can do to help delay some of the effects of advancing years.

The first activity isn’t one I would recommend: dying. Passing on does stop the clock on aging, but I’m thinking of some other solution that may not be so extreme.

For instance, take up a hobby that requires you to do something you haven’t done before and that requires you to work in a way you haven’t. This could be golfing, tennis, walking, (no, breathing doesn’t count as a new exercise).You aren’t going to become an expert in the field or be a world class competitor, but that’s not the point. The point is to challenge yourself to do something new, something that includes using your mind and perhaps developing new physical skills.

Even learning to play a sedate game of chess can improve your chances of putting off senility since your brain is having to stretch, developing connections with parts of the brain that haven’t seen the light of thought in decades…if ever.

Kick starting a retired part of the brain can feel like a rocket ride into space: a mental rush that stimulates electrodes to fire.    This is known as the Seniors’ Big Bang Theory.

Hey, we’ll take a charge anyway we can get it.