If you are 35, 40 or 50, you should know that your old age is being built right now, in every small decision you make, in every step you take or do not take.
Most of us relate to old age as a distant future event, something that begins after age 65, maybe even 70. But the simple truth is that our old age is built day by day, in habits, in small decisions, and also in what we keep postponing again and again to another stage in life.
The real question is not whether we will age, but how we will get there. There is a tendency to think that quality of life in older age depends mainly on advanced medicine or genetics, but in practice, the most influential factors are דווקא the simple and everyday ones – movement, nutrition, sleep and human connections.
Regular physical activity, even if it is a half-hour walk a day, preserves muscle mass, stability and independence. Half an hour of walking a day sounds like a banal recommendation, but at age 80 it is exactly the difference between a person who goes alone to the supermarket, and a person who waits for someone to take them. Balanced nutrition and maintaining a healthy body weight reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and quality sleep, which is sometimes pushed aside, is a condition for maintaining cognitive function and mental health over time.
But the body is only part of the matter. The brain also needs maintenance. People who continue to learn, read, take interest and acquire new skills in midlife, reach older age with better cognitive flexibility. Cognitive decline is not a decree of fate, at least not to the extent commonly thought, and there is much that can be done to delay it.
Alongside this, one of the biggest risk factors in old age is not blood pressure but loneliness. People who stop maintaining relationships in midlife discover in older age that there is no one to call. Stable relationships, friendships, regular meetings and a sense of belonging are a foundation for a healthy life no less than medical tests. Those who reach old age with an active social network, arrive with resilience, and this does not happen on its own – relationships require maintenance just like the body and the brain.
The economic and legal field also enters the picture earlier than it seems. Most people postpone dealing with things like a lasting power of attorney to the stage of “when we get to the bridge”. The problem is that the bridge arrives long before we are ready for it. Financial planning, checking savings and understanding the economic situation are part of the preparation, so it is better to devote thought to arranging advance medical directives sooner rather than later, these will allow you to maintain control and choice even in future situations of dependency.
But beyond all these, there is one issue that perhaps determines more than anything – meaning. The poet and writer Yehuda Atlas wrote in one of his poems “We do not die of old age. Nor of diseases. We die because no one needs us anymore”. This sentence summarizes one of the common problems in old age. A feeling of lack of usefulness and absence of meaning, which can appear in the third age with retirement from the workforce, with children moving away or with the shrinking of social circles. It is linked to an increase in feelings of loneliness, anxiety and depression, and directly affects quality of life.
The need for meaning does not disappear over the years, and sometimes even intensifies. People need a reason to get up in the morning, a sense of value and the knowledge that they have a place and a role.
This feeling can be cultivated throughout life and especially at retirement age. Volunteering, creativity, learning or community involvement are not only ways to fill time, but components that contribute to vitality and a sense of identity. In this sense, retirement from work does not have to be the end of a role, but an opportunity to define a new role.
Ultimately, old age does not have to be a period of decline. It can be a stage of freedom, depth and leisure, but it is not created on its own or out of luck. Good old age is the result of the way we lived until it, and that path begins long before.
A few steps you can start already today
To set small habits of regular physical activity, even simple, but part of the daily routine.To adopt a small but consistent learning habit.To invest in relationships and initiate social meetings – even when there is no energy or mood.To do basic financial organization and understand where you stand, and what your future will look like.To dedicate time to what gives a sense of meaning and value to life and to plan ahead.
Dr. Doron Sagi is a gerontologist, head of the specialization in applied gerontology at the Academic Center for Law and Business
Source:
www.jpost.com
