#Middlebury #SeniorNewsLine
If we live long enough, we’ll eventually get to the age where we start losing people around us. Friends, neighbors and relatives succumb to serious illness, and our lives will never be the same. We end up going to more and more funerals. Our social networks get smaller and smaller, and that leaves us … where?
Alone … unless we see the writing on the wall and plan ahead for our own futures.
That’s not to say we should turn our backs on friends of a certain age or level of health. But protecting our own health needs to be uppermost in our minds. Extended loneliness and grief can take its toll, if we let it, and lead to depression, elder abuse, cognitive decline and more.
The phrase “safety in numbers” might be one to consider. We can join groups where there are people of all ages, or at least be around people who share our interests. Is there a hobby you’ve always wanted to try? Maybe pottery or painting? Or a college class you’ve wanted to audit? Does the senior center host short travel expeditions, maybe to a big city for museums and shows? Do they have a weekly writing group?
How about volunteering somewhere, on a regular schedule? The library can’t function without daily shelving. Can you read to a morning group of toddlers? Socialize cats and dogs at the shelter? Do you like shopping enough to do deliveries from grocery stores to the homebound? Interested in a daily walking group? The point is to be out among people. Somewhere in the mix you’re likely to find new friends.
The key to maintaining health is the number of interactions we have with others. But often we have to take the first step.
(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.
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