Golden Years?

We are all getting older. There is little we can do about it.  I'm certainly there.  63 is staring me in the face.

I've heard all the clichés.  "Getting old is not for sissies."  And "60 is the new 40."  (That's a lie.)

Or my personal least favorite: "he/she looks good for his/her age."  That one reminds me too much of comments made at the funeral home.  "He certainly looks good."  Well, he looks dead too (not to be too callous).

I don't want to look good for my age.  I want to look good period. 

Wrinkled?  Sure.  Slower?  Most certainly.  Sagging where I might not like it?  Maybe.

Yes, I have the bifocals and hearing aids and maybe I can't do some of the things I used to but making excuses by using those things is just...well...making excuses.

We all want to live longer but we want to do it on our own terms.  Good health.  Sharp mind.  Able to do the things we love.

But are you doing the things today to help you get there?

It is a fact of life that most of the things that negatively impact our health in our later years are things we can do something about. 

Like our weight.  Our activity level.  Smoking.  Eating right.  And yes, even our social life.

It is a proven fact that if we have friends and an active social life we're not only going to live longer but we're going to be healthier as we age.  Check it out.

And then there's exercise.

If you exercise regularly and vigorously, pretty much all those other things are going to take care of themselves. 

Some people complain that we put too much emphasis on sports.  But we also know that active children become active adults and sports just happen to be one of our better vehicles to promote activity in children and teenagers.

Sports serve us by teaching us the joy of movement.  And the rewards of physical activity.  Never learned that?  It's never too late.

I know of lots of folks that dream of the day that they can retire.  They might even be able to tell you how many days and hours it is until retirement.

But have they adequately prepared financially for retirement? With life expectancies increasing, are you sure that the retirement plan that you've been working on for 40 years is going to last you 30 or more years more?

The embarrassing fact is that you might not have the finances to live as long as you do.

So what's the bottom line on all this?   Start preparing to be old today. 

Exercise.  Eat right.  Make new friends.  You're probably going to have to work longer than you planned.

But science and common sense both tell us that if you're going to be healthy enough to enjoy those golden years, then it starts now.