How to Live Your Best Life, As You Age
There’s an incorrect perception doing the rounds in society. It’s the one that says that life is best when you’re younger and that once you’re over the hill, that it’s all downhill from there.
Live Your Best Life
This is not the case. You’re never too old to lead a happy, fulfilled, exciting life. But it is true that it takes a little more work than it does for the youngsters, for whom most of life is fun.
Below, we take a look at some ways you can ensure you’re forever living your best life, no matter how many times you’ve been around the sun.
Keep on Improving
One reason why some people look back with a glint in their eye, and say “life was better back then” isn’t because of the hardships of their life, but because they’ve stopped pushing themselves forward.
Your life is always in your control, and if it’s not going as you planned, then it’s time to change. You’ll have settled into one way of being as you grow older, especially if you have kids, but that doesn’t mean you should stop progressing.
Humans are like sharks: if they’re not moving forward, they die. If you’re always trying and doing new things, then you’ll find that curiosity is always within reach.
Stay Active
It does get a little more difficult to stay energetic when you grow older, but it’s not impossible. Far from it. There’s a big difference in how you’ll feel if you work out regularly, and if you don’t do anything.
You’ll have a busy life, sure, but it’s unlikely that you’ll be so busy that you can’t fit in a thirty-minute run here and there. Once you lose your fitness it can hard to get it back.
If you stay fit as you age, you’ll be less likely to fall into that more sedentary mode that happens around middle age.
New Activities
Who says that the excitement of life has to end just because, you know, you have responsibilities and so forth? It doesn’t.
There’s always space for developing new hobbies and interests in your life. And this isn’t just something that you should do as a little bonus on top of your life: it should be an integral part of your life experience!
There are multiple ways of seeing the world. You can batter down the hatches and retreat into your own little world, or you can stay open-minded and try new things.
There comes the point when it feels like we know everything and don’t want to try new things, but we’re only hurting ourselves if we take this path.
It’s OK to make a fool of yourself when you’re doing something new.
Get Rid of the Negative
One of the best things about growing older is that we understand more and more about the things that we don’t like, the things that bring our mood and energy down.
It takes some time to determine these things, but when you do, they can be liberating. You’ll no longer need to surround yourself with things that you don’t really like!
It’s easy and tempting to fall into a negative mindset when we reach a certain age, but this can easily be overcome — we just need to direct that energy elsewhere, towards things that we do like.
There’s much good and bad in the world and they sometimes overlap, because people have different interests, needs, and standards.
Make sure you’re surrounding yourself with things that inspire joy, and leave other things behind.
Deal With Issues
There’s no getting around the fact that life is complicated. Even when things are going well, you don’t know when something will come up that derails the good vibrations.
While it can sometimes be tempting to gloss over these issues, it’s much better to confront them head-on. If you don’t, you’ll only run the risk of things getting worse, and this could result in your long-term happiness being compromised.
One area that many people do need to actively work on is their marriage; it’s not something that can run on autopilot. If you’re having trouble, then look at going to couples therapy. It’s much easier to overcome your problems when you have a professional assisting you.
At the end of your journey, you’ll be able to create a better environment in the household.
Count Your Blessings
It’s part of human nature to want more, more, more. But because it’s not realistic to have everything, this desire usually just makes us more frustrated. Instead, practice the opposite – which is, being happy with what you’ve already got.
If you’ve got a roof over your head, a loving family, and you’re generally safe from threats and harm, then you’ve got a pretty sweet gig. It can be easy to overlook all these plus points, but a little reminder every now and again will help you appreciate your blessings.
Acting Silly
Remember when you were younger, and you’d play, play, play without reckless abandon? Oh, they were fun times. Then time moves on, and we become too cool to play anymore. But though you may not have done it for ages, it’s worthwhile looking at bringing play back into your life.
Put simply: it’s super fun.
There’s nothing like an hour of intense play with your kids to put some fun back in your life. Plus, though you might think other people are looking at you and passing judgment, they’re really just jealous that you know how to have fun and they don’t.
Embrace the Wisdom
You’ve been around the block a few times, and you’ve learned a thing or two as you went, too. Embrace it!
There’s little value in admiring youth, who don’t really know how things work or are yet. You do. You can put all that you know into practice, and make the world a better place for you, your family, and the world at large.
Forget the number of years you have – it’s always possible to live your best life!
