For Seniors

When someone dies, the first thing to do is nothing. Don't run out and call the nurse. Don't pick up the phone. Take a deep breath and be present to the magnitude of the moment.

Do you tend to take things too personally and wind up getting your feelings hurt?  Taking things personally does not bode well for us in relationships with our spouse, children, friends, or work associates.  Habitually taking another person’s words or actions personally may be because we believe that person is intentionally referring to us in some way and we read negative intent in what they are saying or doing.  When we do this, we give that person all of the power and take away our own, by putting our feelings at the mercy of others, regardless of whether they meant to attack you personally or not.

People who are 65 and older generally have a harder time adjusting to sudden or extreme changes in temperature.  Their body’s ability to thermoregulate body heat may be due to medications, chronic medical conditions, etc.

Do you have a hard time saying no?  It is a very small word - just two simple letters.  But, saying no can be tough, as we do not want to disappoint, alienate, or hurt anyone’s feelings.  Let’s explore how we can begin to say no in certain situations.

As we age, our bodies change and can require a different type of exercise.  And, though we may have been able to just jog or run on the treadmill in our younger years, we now need different types of exercise to build strength and muscle mass.

Years ago, when I was working as an ER nurse, I attended a mandatory in-service designed to enhance cooperation and productivity in the workforce.  The trainer told a story entitled, Stone Soup.  Most of my southern coworkers had all heard the story in one version or another, but being from New England, I never had.  The story went something like this:

I grew up in a French family with lots of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and we hugged each other…A LOT!  Since it was the preferred form of greeting, both in my family and the French Catholic community I grew up in, I always found it very normal.  However, when I moved away from Northern Maine, I realized this is not always the case with everyone.

Isn’t it strange that the feelings in ourselves we try to bury or do not want to look at, are the ones we need to address the most in order to know ourselves and become more self-aware in who we really are?  Running away from a memory or feelings that are bothering us, only keeps those feelings and memories alive in our subconscious

Most of us look forward to that time when we could retire.  We have worked hard all our lives and hopefully have saved for retirement.  The first few months or even years of retirement are glorious.  We do not have to get up before we want to in the morning, we can do what we like during the day, stay up later at night to watch a movie, or read a book, etc.

We all know how important it is to keep our immune system healthy, especially lately with the COVID pandemic we have all been dealing with.