by Joe Casciani
LONGEVITY AND SUCCESSFUL AGING
Successful aging means we are always creating new roles. What new creation or new role lies dormant inside that we never tapped before? We often hear about older adults who take up new hobbies or pastimes and become quite accomplished – though not so old and not a new pastime, Dyana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida at age 64, Peter Roget invented the Thesaurus at age 73, Dorothy Hirsch was the oldest person to reach the North Pole at age 89, and Christopher Plummer won an Oscar at age 82. And there are countless others. I think it is sometimes helpful to look back at our lives and see a series of chapters unfolding. These are a succession of events or milestones that mark our journey, like graduation, marriage, birth of children, promotions, retirement, death of a spouse, and on and on. These milestones serve as chapters in our life story.
With each new milestone, we look at starting a new chapter, whether intended or not, whether pleasant or not, and whether liberating or not. Situations like downsizing to a smaller home, a divorce, giving up the car keys, having a heart attack, or experiencing the death of a spouse. They all require us to start a new chapter in our life story.
TOO DIFFICULT TO GO ON?
How can we go on after losing our spouse? Many don’t want to – it’s just too painful, too lonely, and too dark facing the future alone. Of course, we need time to grieve and mourn this loss. And, then, we gradually decide to start a new chapter, continuing our odyssey now as a widow or widower, and re-defining our self as someone who took an unexpected sharp turn and is staying positive even in the face of such a heavy loss.
We can recommend the same to the husband or wife who is now a caregiver for the spouse with a debilitating Alzheimer’s disease. It’s time to write a new part for our self: I’m now in the role of caring for my spouse, who needs my daily attention. The main point here is that we are now writing the script, taking on a new role in this next act, and creating whatever type of character we want to play.
ALWAYS ADAPTING AND CREATING
Living longer is about attitude, adapting, and staying positive. Things always get in the way – just the same, we push ahead.
Click this Youtube link to watch how a woman in her 90’s continues to write new roles for herself, Johanna Quaas, the oldest gymnast in the world.
When Michelangelo was asked how he can create such beautiful masterpieces from a piece of stone, he said, “Every block of stone has a status inside it, and it’s the task of the sculptor to find it”. How many dimensions are still inside that we have yet to discover?
