What does it mean to age smarter? I think a lot about this topic, and one thing is inherently true: there is no single correct way to age smarter. But you can think ahead and give yourself every opportunity to age the way you want.
For most of history, aging just happened to you. When Social Security was established in 1935, the average life expectancy was around 60 years old. People would retire, slow down, and they were lucky to have another five or ten years of retirement.
Today, the experience of aging is very different. People are living longer. In fact, people who retire at age 65 may have another 20 years or more of retirement. That is not a short chapter. That is another stage of adulthood.
With this longevity comes an opportunity to be intentional about how we age. Now there are decisions to make. What medications are best for you? What foods will support your health? What are the right kinds of exercises? Should you have a Power of Attorney or other important documents? Does your home need modifications to be safer and more functional as you age? Or would another home or community better accommodate your needs?
Aging smarter, in my opinion, means thinking ahead and actively participating in your next steps, rather than waiting for things to happen to you.
It means adapting, planning, and being strategic. It also means maintaining a perspective about change, something that younger generations may not have.
Older adults have lived through so much change. They have lived through inflation, cultural revolutions, leaps in technology, wars, recessions, and even a worldwide pandemic. Each time, you adapted. You learned new ways of doing things, adjusted your expectations, and found your way forward.
Wisdom is gained with time and experience. Yet I often hear people who do not want to plan ahead. They believe they will inherently know when they have to make a change. Usually, that means until they are forced to change because of an injury or illness.
For example, a friend of mine was using a bedroom on the third floor of their home, with no bathroom on the same floor. They would climb up and down the stairs in the middle of the night.
They made this change when their kids were living in the home, and it made the most sense to them. But now, years after the children were grown and moved out, they stayed in the same room out of comfort. Even after family and friends pressed them to move to a bedroom on the floor with the bathroom, they refused and said they were fine on the stairs.
Finally, they fell on the stairs and received the wake-up call that people had been worried about. Thankfully, they only suffered some bruising on both their arms and their ego. Waiting for this to force them to move to a new room could have led to much worse outcomes.
I encourage you to use the perspective and wisdom gained to your advantage. Do not hide from change in an attempt to hold off the effects of aging. Aging smarter is not about stopping the clock. It’s about taking an active role in shaping the years ahead.
Martha Shapiro can be reached at Senior Concerns at 805-497-0189 or by email at mshapiro@seniorconcerns.org.
