6 Ways Life Will Change for You During Retirement:
As we age, our entire perspective on life doesn’t age with us, but it drastically changes. Thank God! Imagine seeing the world as you did in your 20s! What seemed really important then is wildly trivial now, and the other way around.
What might have slipped your mind is that some of the skills we possess improve or at least don’t diminish as we age, which can definitely affect our perception in the best possible way. As we tackle the whole ‘aging our way through life’ chapter, we decided to focus today on all the things that change with age.
Perception of aging
The real issue with aging isn’t in the increasing number of years, but in how it’s viewed, and by that, I’m talking about the negative light it gets. This also includes the fact that we live in a time when we are pretty much expected to live longer.
In fact, I find it rather surprising that we’re trying to live longer considering all the issues that come along with aging. As aging definitely has its own set of challenges, we also know that every decade we might go through has its own set.
With a very deep understanding of life and the right tools on hand, meaning all the equipment and devices meant to help us “age,” it’s fair to say that tackling aging is easier than it used to be. When you are open to trying different tools that help you with things, you will also come up with plenty of resources that you can use to your benefit. As an aging adult, you become wildly aware and even accepting of not only your limitations but also your strengths.
This will let you go about your life in a realistic manner. Some skills and abilities might diminish as we age, especially when it comes to our physical capacities. Poorer vision and hearing are probably the best examples.
Other abilities can also decline due to the inactive lifestyle that comes with retirement life. I mean, in most cases, you don’t work, nor do you compensate for the lack of work by keeping your mind and body busy.
In this situation, moving to a senior living home becomes something worth considering due to the supportive environment that comes with it and that you might, in fact, need as you navigate this period of your life.
Reasoning
When we are much younger, it’s not uncommon to catastrophize everything. We are quick to make assumptions, jump through hoops when it comes to conclusions, and rarely even take the time to analyze something in its details.
We see everything in black and white, which, let’s be real, is hardly ever the case. The more you age, you also learn there’s more gray out there than on the hairs of your head. Suppose you know what I mean.
Well, the less likely you are to jump to conclusions, the more likely you are to make the right decisions for your life. If you also add a sprinkle of experience, you soon realize that older adults are much better at making the right decisions because they have the ability to look at the whole picture.
It’s even more helpful in everyday life, which is filled with decision-making. Believe it or not, there’s a study conducted by the members of Cornell University that shows how we make no less than 226.7 decisions a day just on food.
Verbal ability
Even if our vision and hearing might fade as we age, our tongues are still quite active, which also means that the use of vocabulary is enhanced. If you have seen an older person doing a crossword puzzle, then you might have realized that already.
When we reach middle age, we are still expanding our vocabulary and honing it. With a broader vocabulary, an older adult is capable of expressing themselves in a much more appropriate fashion than their younger counterparts.
Learning new vocabulary is also a cognitive ability that is highly resilient to aging. The power to learn doesn’t go away. What might be diminished is the way something is learned. For example, rote memorization doesn’t really work well with older people. A proper vocabulary could put you more out there because you would also become more confident in speaking and expressing yourself.
Attaining contentment
Despite the losses and issues that have come over the years, seniors still have the superpower of being content. How do they do that? One might wonder. For starters, they definitely take advantage of all the tools out there that help them with the aging process, whether it’s about their physical, mental, or emotional well-being.
This is also one of the differences between aging and being healthy. While everyone grows older, and that’s a fact, the secret is to do it in a healthy fashion. A second and very important reason for remaining happy is that elderly people don’t make the mistake of taking everything to heart.
They don’t even see the need or desire to spend time-fighting over trivialities, unlike younger adults. They have a better understanding of life and time. If they are forced to take matters into battle, they will definitely choose the battles that are worth fighting for.
Others opinions
Maybe the biggest perk of aging is just caring less about other people’s opinions. There’s an enormous difference between respecting other opinions and letting others dictate your life with their own opinions.
When we’re young, there’s a very strong desire to be accepted, and it definitely takes a great toll on your well-being. We might often do things and think in ways that are completely contrary to our nature. But as a senior, you are the one calling the shots, and you’re also free from the chains that society puts on you and other groups of people on how you should look, dress, and behave.
Focus on the positive.
The amygdala is the essential part of our brain that connects emotions and memory. If there’s one thing that we can be thankful for, it’s the fact that it diminishes as it ages. I know it seems weird, but hear me out: the more it weakens, the more it helps us focus on the positive rather than the negative.
As a matter of fact, there’s something known as the “amygdala hijack.” The term stands for our immediate response to any problem that’s either emotional or overwhelming, which is also your brain’s response to emotional and psychological stress.
The more we age, the more it lessens, as our thoughts and actions are more rooted in the conscious mind than the unconscious. When we minimize the negative and try to maximize the positive, it’s much easier to view life as a happy place.
Your perspective on life will change as you grow older because it will also determine how you view life. Those who are witty enough to take advantage of all the tools out there and improve their lives end up happier.
It’s just that simple. As soon as you realize what really matters in life and simply refuse to submit to the concept that “aging makes life tougher,” you will be much happier. If you need more advice, you might find Fritz Gilbert’s book “Keys to a Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active, and Productive” super useful!
If you found this article insightful, then you definitely need to try: 10 Tips to Improve Your Biological Age and Reverse Aging
