Some of you might find this difficult to swallow, but, now that I'm officially old, I actually feel younger than I did while in my fifties. One person has suggested that it's because I no longer work at one particularly toxic site from where I resigned two months ago. This could be. I don't know what else to owe to this new sense of wellbeing.
If there are any concessions I make for being older, they're all around getting adequate and appropriate rest. I especially need this if I want to function well emotionally and mentally. I seem to have lost very little of my physical stamina and walking long distances and climbing stairs and steep hills is not harder than it was ten years ago. I think what has really changed is that I tend to use a lot more common sense than when I was younger.
For one thing, I am a lot more disciplined now. As well as ensuring that I get enough sleep at night, I try to be in bed with the lights out before ten-thirty every night, often before ten. Knowing that I sometimes have difficulty getting back to sleep should I wake in the night, this allows me more rest time for getting the sleep that I need. I am also much stricter about hygiene, making sure that I get everything done that needs doing, every day, without fail, always within minutes of getting out of bed in the morning. I also clean my place every day and try to prevent things from falling into too much disorder. Every day I take out recycling and other garbage, as needed. I work on my art daily. Likewise my Spanish, and of course, Gentle Reader, this precious little blog that I write every day. I am also more careful about other projects, such as rereading and further editing my novel and reading and researching for my future up-and-coming project: Latin America, the Spanish Legacy and Collective Trauma. This I will be exploring with you in future pages of this blog, so stay tuned everyone.
I am equally assiduous about diet, making sure that I get between five and ten portions of fresh fruit and veggies every day. I also walk every day, making sure that I'm putting in a bare minimum of five miles every day, usually more than that. I am also careful to cultivate and maintain good, healthy, mutually respectful and vibrant friendships with really good people. I try to see at least someone every week for coffee, maybe a walk or a meal together, as well. I also try to email or text, phone or Skype with someone, doing any one of these things at least every day, to maintain and enlarge my social circle and simply to remind others that they are being thought of with kindness and love. And I make an effort to reach out to strangers, if it means saying hi to a stranger on the street, or chatting with the person next to me on the bus or in the grocery checkout, or in the café, be they staff or other patrons, always in a respectful and friendly way of course. I work hard at staying well-informed about the world and trying to do my part of activism, even if it means emailing politicians and journalists about such matters as poverty, homelessness, the environment, to name but a few.
My spiritual life is particularly important. I take care daily to pray, wait in the presence of God and maintain a strict regimen of devotional readings. This is the real fuel that keeps me going: the fuel of love as shown to us in the life and ministry and ongoing presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
I also maintain an ongoing appreciation of other people and of the natural world around me. Where people are concerned, I have lately been taking particular care to try not to judge those whose behaviour troubles me, but to approach them with compassion, mercy and respect. This is often very difficult, as, my desire to smack some of those idiots upside the head still runs through me in some very deep and strong currents. But I am still working against this tide and this can only make me stronger. It is often much easier to see God in nature than in other people, but when I do see the Divine in others it is always a bonus.
I really try to stay well-focussed and completely professional in my work, maintaining good and friendly relations with my coworkers and clients. I take joy in what I do and really enjoy the people I work with and help care for. By the same token I have noticed that my sense of humour seems to have greatly improved over the years and I really don't take myself as seriously as I used to.
Last but not least, I always appreciate the breathing space, the downtime and the alone time, as I happily wander around outside in nature, or focus on my art, reading, research and writing here at home. Good self-care is essential to aging well. Also an attitude of gratitude, as you can see by these ninety-seven Gratitude posts. Do you think I can make it to a hundred? I wouldn't be at all surprised. Life is full of blessing and really when we allow ourselves this treat, life itself is a blessing. Shove over, Pollyanna!
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