How to Live Your Best Life As You Age
It does seem as if the world is geared towards the youth. On television shows and in the movies, the ‘spectacle’ of society is filled with younger people. Yet while this might be the driving narrative of the media, it’s a presentation that’s at odds with reality. There are, after all, more people in retirement age than there are under the age of five. One of the side-effects of this youth-filled media world is that people think that it’s only young people who get to enjoy their best life. This is not the case! You’re never too old (or young) to live your happiest days. Once the carefree days of youth have passed, however, it is something that you need to make it happen. We take a look at a few tried and tested tips that’ll have you living your best, whether you’re 31 or 81, or anyone in between.
How to Live Your Best Life As You Age
Get Moving
The biggest difference between the youth and everyone else is energy levels. When you’re young, it seems as if you have energy to burn. You’re just always moving, and it’s only at the end of the day when you feel ready to sit down. This is a distant dream for most adults, who sometimes never get out of the tired stage. If you feel this way, then it’s worthwhile looking at your lifestyle, and how you’re spending your days. If you’re too sedentary, then you’ll always be a little tired. The body needs to move in order to stay alert. If you’re just driving to work, sitting in the office all day, and then watching television in the evening, then you’re not moving your body enough. Try and build in some exercise into your day. Even a 15 minute run first thing in the moving will get the blood pumping and make you feel more alert.
Cut Down on Vices
There are some socially accepted things that can limit the quality of your lifestyle. Take drinking alcohol, for instance. There are advantages to enjoying a few drinks with your friends, but it’s always worth keeping in mind the broader effects of those evenings in the bar. Alcohol can seriously sap your energy, for one, and also affect your bank balance and the amount of free time that you have. The same principles can also apply to smoking, to a more extreme degree. So look at cutting back on both these things. You’ll find that you wake up fresher, you have more money, and you’re filling your time with more interesting things. Try it for a month, and you might just be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.
Stay Up to Date
It’s not all about energy levels, of course. You could have all the energy in the world and still feel that the world is passing you by. It’s all about staying up to date. Most people are clued up with what’s going on in culture and other trends when they’re in the youth, but then they take a break to focus on other things, and then never come back. Some years later, they realize they don’t understand anything about the world anymore. And that can be a little disconcerting. One way to get around this is to, well, stay up to date. Take time to listen to new music, read new books, and so on. This approach will also keep you from falling into the cliche of “it was all better in my day” routine.
Hit the Shops
Sometimes, you can feel energetic and on it, but then you catch yourself in the mirror, and well, don’t your clothes look a little clunky? Does it seem like your morphing into the dress style of your mother or father? If you thought being out of the loop culture-wise was disconcerting, then just think about what that thought could do to you! Clothes can become a little less important when we’re older and have other responsibilities, but sometimes it can be years before we’re refreshing the wardrobe. If you want to put the spring back in your step, then take a look at hitting the shops. You can dress down, age-wise, a little, and take years off your age. Just don’t go too far down — you can’t dress like a 21 year old if you’re 45, for instance.
Looking and Feeling Younger
You can take some steps forward with your clothing, but you can’t go the entire way. Even the trendiest outfits might fail to make a difference if you think that you’re showing too many signs of aging. While some of us think that there’s nothing we can do to combat the physical signs of aging, this is not the case. There are plenty of things that you can do! Protecting your skin from the harsh effects of winter and sunlight is a good start. For bigger issues, there are plastic surgeons that can help to give you that younger look. Getting into the gym and keeping your body toned will also help.
Stretching Out
They say that you stay the same age you were when you first start doing yoga. That’s pushing it a little, but there’s truth in there. Our bodies can be oh so tense, essentially all the time, but it’s not natural — it’s a reflection of our lifestyles. Yoga loosens you up like nothing else and takes your body back to how it was supposed to feel. It can be a little intimidating to get it started, but just power through — at the end of your first class, you’ll understand why so many people rave about it.
Trying New Things
Finally, keep on trying new things! Most of us don’t push ourselves to step out of our comfort zones once we’re settled in life. But if there’s one thing to remember, it’s that doing new things can make you feel young at heart again. In any case, you only live one life, so why not experience as much of it as possible?
