Senior Connections: Key To Vitality
Staying Socially Active Maintains The Spirit In Old Age
Getting older brings with it many challenges, including the ubiquitous question of how to maintain a spirit of youthfulness, with accompanying energy and vitality. While exercise and diet are key components of your health as you age, many experts now believe that it is critical that aging persons maintain and nurture their social life. Creating and maintaining interactions with others keeps the brain active and wards off depression, a common aliment for seniors.
As we age, we unfortunately lose friends, family, and spouses to illness. These loses bring with them feelings of sadness and, often, longer-term depression. While making new social connections after a loss may seem difficult, it is not impossible and can bring with it a rediscovered appreciation of life and the culture around you.
A good first step both maintaining and reinvigorating your social network as you age is to make concerted daily efforts to make contact with friends, families, and new acquaintances. Take advantage of emerging technologies, including email and social networking tools, to keep up with family members living away from you. Attend neighborhood meetings and events to stay engaged with your local community. You can schedule regular walks or coffee breaks with local friends. All of these activities aid in creating and maintaining your social network.
If you find yourself with extra time on your hands, you can fill that time with activities that enrich your connections with others. For example, volunteer with others in a local organization. You will both meet new people as well as assist organizations and people in need. The sense of purpose you receive is an added mental health benefit. Alternatively, you might consider joining a club focusing on an interest, such as reading, gardening, or a sporting activity. Again, the rewards of such participation are new relationships and an expanding social network.
Another important aspect of healthy aging is to stay in contact and be a part of your extended family. If you have grandchildren, great-nephews or nieces, or even long-lost extended in-laws, make efforts to be involved with their lives. Your efforts may be restricted due to geographical constraints, but that does not mean you have to limit your involvement. You can be a mentor to young people and, if geography permits, you can spend time caring for grandchildren and, thereby, allowing their parents some time on their own. The connections you create with these family members can be the richest of your entire life and, thus, add tremendously to your own mental well-being and sense of purpose.
Loss and loneliness are realities of getting older. Senior citizens are vulnerable to strong feelings of depression and lack of purpose. Most experts agree that it is essential for seniors to create, develop, and nurture their social networks. These networks include family and friends, and rely on both physical and virtual contacts. Emerging social media technologies allow all persons, including seniors, to communicate and connect with more people. Embracing the various opportunities for forging new relationships, as well as maintain existing ones, brings vitality and energy, no matter what stage of life.