Weary OF Whining

Are you WEARY OF WHINING?

If you are like most people age 50 and above, you are beginning to see things in the mirror that you didn’t notice ten or fifteen years before. It may have started with a few strands of grey hair around your temples or even that small wad of hair sitting on top of your shower drain. You may also begin to notice how you are slowing down a bit on the tennis court and your sore muscles take longer to say goodbye.

If you are like some people age 60 and above, you have been rinsing the grey away for some time.  Or perhaps you have been trying to figure out how to part your hair in the least scalp revealing way. It is pretty likely that you have begun to have two sizes of pants in your closet: the older smaller size and the current larger size. You are of course keeping the smaller size for when you lose those few extra pounds. You are actually beginning to think ahead about retirement; perhaps with mixed emotions. Your primary love relationship may have matured with age or crashed-and-burned years ago. If you have children they may have provided you with some grandchildren. If so, by now you have likely, at least once, stuck your foot in your mouth regarding the rearing of those grandchildren. You are starting to hear of a few friends who have died…and that is just creepy.

If you are like many people age 70 and above, you have been in retirement for a few years now. Most of your days are spent as you may have on the weekends at age 40 –after all, “Every day is a Saturday”, right? The days run into weeks and the weeks run into years. You travel as money allows, your healthy friends have become fewer in number but hopefully more solid than some from the past. Or perhaps, your days may be spent numbingly trying to figure out why you get up in the morning. Yes there may be a golf game with the old group but your knee has been pretty grumpy lately. You wouldn’t admit it but there are weeks that go by when you mostly feel numb and tired. Your body has changed in ways that you would never have imagined at age 20.

If you are like many people age 80 and above you find yourself feeling lonely and fearful at times. Your energy level has taken a big hit. Technology is confusing; as is the chaotic world we live in. Change happens so fast your head seems to spin sometimes. Your relationships are pretty cemented by now. It has become harder to make new friends. Some of the best friends are gone now; either by death or they just got too weird to deal with. Some of you keep busy and have a passion for life because you are still on a mission to produce something of value. If so, it is likely that your lifestyle is quite different from that of others you know. Activity and challenge is what you live for, even though your memory and body slow you down considerably.

SO this blog is for people who want to take charge of their lives. For those disinterested in letting life pass them bye. It is for aging people who what to know more and who want to obtain tools to help them live with and flourish as they age. I will bring you ideas and information from some of the best research in the area of psychology and aging. I will also bring you thoughts from some wise writers on the subject. There may be some information that we wish wasn’t so, but by paying attention to the truth, may allow us to make important decisions for our future. Most of all I am interested in you. I know many of you have much to share with the rest of us. Your ideas, stories, experience, and questions are all important. Our success and our failures are all important.

So my question for you (whatever your age) right now is: who has impressed you with their aging process and what have you personally learned from them that you would be willing to share?