Healthy Retirement
What are you doing to plan for your retirement?
No, I’m not talking about financial plans for retirement. That’s important, but there are other highly qualified professionals who can help you with that part of retirement.
I’m talking about how you want to function and feel in retirement because this also takes planning and action throughout your life.
I hear many stories of people ending up in nursing homes because they're no longer able to perform basic functions that could keep them in their own home. I watched my grandma decline with age, especially when she went into a nursing home.
I’m doing what I can now to prevent that kind of eventuality.
If you think there’s nothing you can do to prevent this eventual outcome, you’re wrong.
Of course there are no guarantees in life, but you have the power to prevent many of the breakdowns and deterioration associated with aging. And many practices are not as challenging as you think.
When you think about financial retirement plans, you often learn about the benefits of compound interest and saving over a lifetime.
The same holds true for your health retirement plans. The more you do now to beef up your healthy lifestyle, the better you’ll fare as you age. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather look like this couple as I age than the people I see in nursing homes.
And as with financial retirement plans, it’s as simple as taking Baby Steps now, rather than waiting until it’s harder or you’re older.
There’s always hope for positive outcomes, no matter your age, but it’s more challenging and and results may be less robust the longer you wait.
Are you experiencing these common excuses for inaction?
It’s too late for me, why bother?
Life is short. I want to eat what I want no matter if it creates pain & degeneration in my body.
I’ve avoided exercise my whole life, why bother now. I’m too weak & frail.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
I don’t want to cook for myself.
I can’t remember.
These are antiquated excuses for inaction.
You don’t need to start training for a marathon to notice significant functional outcomes. You just need to start doing something that puts you on the path to a brighter health retirement.
What do better functional outcomes look like for your quality of life?
you're able to bend over and pick something up
if you fall down, you can get back up
you can put on your own socks & shoes
you can remember where you put your keys
you can cook your own food rather than relying on others
you can experience the freedom of driving yourself around
you can enjoy less pain & degeneration in your body
you can enjoy spending time with family & friends
These are just a few of the simple joys that we often lose as we age. These functional skills are often lost because we don’t plan for a healthy future.
To start planning for your “healthy” retirement, practice and prioritize simple Baby Step actions that can shift outcomes to a positive direction.
Future posts will help you see how simple this can be.
Today I want you to start thinking about what you would do differently if you didn’t live with chronic pain, you had more mobility, you felt joyful, you weren’t tied to your home and could go out exploring more, you had the energy to do the things you want to do.
There are no right or wrong answers. This is about what’s important to you. It’s different for everyone.
What do you want your health retirement to look like?
This couple is feeling great because they’re regenerating their own stem cells. They’ve seen the light. Their health retirement looks bright. Yours can too!
To learn how, reach out at Laurie@restorehealthnow.com