Many of our members look to us to get them started or to help them gain a fresh perspective. It’s a beautiful thing to see people transform right before your eyes, as they meet people of a similar age, with similar interests and ways of communicating.
Aging well requires a commitment to shifting your mindset to become open to new ideas, be mindful of the present, look forward to the future while embracing the wisdom of the past. These vibrant young-seniors are youthful but not obsessed with being young. They don’t realize it all the time, but they are blazing the trails for the next generation of seniors. Setting the benchmark for what should be expected to age well and live well.
Many of them believe that the best is yet to come in terms of their needs, and they are grateful for the wisdom and the time to reflect on what they want from life now and into the future.
Rachel Henry, Wellings of Picton, says, “for example, many of our members recognized that they were alone more than they wanted to be. They didn’t necessarily want a partner, but they wanted people around to socialize with, laugh with, and share some good stories with. Wellings is a good place to meet people, laugh, and find opportunities to connect with the greater community.”
Volunteerism is an excellent example of engaging in the greater community at something you find fulfilling. Wellings is committed to connecting our members with staff who are educated in aging well and community service leaders and local initiatives to encourage participation outside the community.
There are so many opportunities to connect, such as community centers, community gardens, festivals, providing art classes, yoga teaching for seniors, cycling clubs, and walking or hiking clubs. The possibilities are endless. Further, we have found that the people we engage in the volunteer realm are healthier, happier, and seem to wake with a sense of purpose. This is important because it involves the mind, engages people in conversation, and keeps us more youthful.
As we age, we tend to become less social, as our friend group shrinks, but there are people all around us, we just need to find ways to connect our passions and hobbies with people who share them. Unfortunately, many people would equate independence with going it alone. Still, we know that to maintain overall good health, we need some element of social interaction. Everyone’s needs are different, but we do know that too much isolation isn’t good, especially for seniors.
Successful aging or aging well means different things all over the world. Still, a common thread seems to be taking the steps necessary to stay connected.
We are proud to be a great resource to many volunteer organizations and would be happy to be a resource for you, should you need us.
If you know of a volunteer organization that would benefit from the 55 plus community, let us know.
Enjoy this TED-X talk from Cathleen Toomey, it really resonated with us: