Monday, July 29, 2024

YOUR GOLDEN YEARS AND SANTA CLAUS

 The description of the book:

This 252-page book is about the wisdom in living in the golden years. This is a comprehensive book on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of successful aging. The book covers frailties and challenges encountered by many seniors in their golden years, such as vision loss, falling, memory impediment, breathing problems, health and money issues, among others. It shows you the wisdom to overcome or cope with them. In addition, it opens the doorway to making new waves to live a meaningful and purposeful life in your golden years. The wisdom is in using Santa Claus as your role model to believe in yourself, to think, and to act like Santa Claus.

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A sample of the book:

The Shady Side of the Golden Years

The golden years are one of the last phases of life, if not the very last. To be in the golden years is having passed the milestone of 65.

In this phase, many are burdened with memory loss, physical impairment, and sexual inactivity. Nutritional deficiency due to a dysfunctional body, a weakened heart and hardened arteries resulting in less blood being pumped into the body organs and systems, compromised immunity response leading to virus infections and diseases, a troublesome digestive and elimination system causing constipation, toxin buildup, as well as bladder, kidney, and liver problems—they all play a pivotal role in the gradual and steady decline and deterioration in health and overall well-ness of the body, the mind, and the spirit. In the end, what are left behind are aches and pains. In this phase, many are also emotionally devastated by loss and bereavement of their loved ones, haunted by their own regrets and frustrations in the past, and plagued by fear and despair of the future.

The golden years may not be “golden” for everyone. Aging, like death, is something that can be denied or even ignored but, ultimately, cannot be avoided.

How do you feel about your own aging? Are you happy about your golden years?

If you really think growing old sucks, just look at Santa Claus in his golden years. He is cheerful, robust, and energetic. He is enjoying every minute in giving presents to children. He is having fun and a good time while riding his sledge and going through chimneys. Just think about all his new and exciting adventures!

Subjective Perception

Feeling about old age is no more than a subjective perception of self. It is always the “glass is half full or half empty” attitude of looking at life. More specifically, it is how you view your own life “in the eyes of the beholder” who is yourself.

If you have strong self-efficacy, which is your self-belief, you will retain control of your life at any age; you will feel competent and capable to seek any opportunity to better your life; you will develop empathy and compassion for all those around you. Most importantly, you will overcome worry, which is self-disabling and self-destructive pessimism, a common attribute of the elderly. According to a study of the Harvard School of Public Health, Americans are pessimistic about their health. To illustrate, according to the study, 40 percent of Americans believed  they would get breast cancer  at some point  in their lives, but only 10 percent actually got the disease. A case in point, actress Angelina Jolie had her breasts removed out of her belief in the reality of becoming yet another breast cancer victim.

Negative Stereotypes


To change any negative subjective perception of aging, you must first of all remove all negative stereotypes associated with aging or the elderly. Aging is not a disease, neither is it only despair and disability. You should not view aging as a personality homogenizer, that is, at some point in time, like everybody else, you will lose your individuality and fall into a common category known as the elderly, or the senile and the decrepit.

 

Myths and Truths about Aging

 

You inevitably feel much older as you advance in years. Quite the contrary, according to a 2009 Pew Research survey, many seniors feel they are as many as 10 to19 years younger, not older, than their chronological age.

Dementia is inevitable in life. But dementia is only one of the many symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. If you don’t have the disease, you may only have senior moments, which are just momentary memory lapses. Use it or lose it. If you regularly use and exercise your brain, you will have fewer senior moments. Of course, if you do have the Alzheimer’s disease, then it is something else.

You can no longer exercise your body and mind in your 50s, 60s, and beyond.  Nothing is further from the truth than this. It is never too late to exercise, despite your aches and pains. As a matter of fact, immobility only aggravates muscle weakness and inflexibility, and thus creating a vicious circle of inactivity and pain.

If you think you are too old to give up your nicotine, think again! Research studies have indicated that most seniors are able to give up their lifelong habit of smoking in their golden years.

You can never teach an old dog new tricks. Scientists have found that the cognitive reserve in the human brain enables learning new things in the latter half of life. Whether you wish to continue to empower yourself with new knowledge in your golden years is your personal choice, and it has little to do with your mind power or your age.

Women in senior years are more likely to develop depression than men. According to National Women’s Health Resources, women in their golden years become more adventurous and more ready to look for new opportunities in life than men do. It is also a myth that depression will impair an aging body and mind. The truth of the matter is that depression is a treatable medical condition. Don’t stigmatize yourself!

Western cultures perpetuate the perception and the negative stereotypes of the elderly. Do not buy into all the negative and erroneous beliefs about growing old. If you can only remove all your negative stereotypes and myths of aging, you are well on the way to the sunny side of your golden years. 

YOUR GOLDEN YEARS AND SANTA CLAUS

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