Aging gracefully for many means accepting your age without trying to look younger; but, for others, aging gracefully means more. Aging gracefully means maintaining both body and mind health throughout one’s lifetime.
One effective strategy to do so is cultivating gratitude. Recognizing all that life offers can help you feel more positive even during challenging circumstances – for instance, instead of dwelling on how annoying having a flat tire may be, instead think about all your friends who might offer rides home instead.
Gratefulness has also been linked with prosocial behaviors, such as kindness and generosity, as well as helping reduce depression in older adults. Exercising gratitude may involve writing down one or two things you are grateful for each day or taking an “awe walk”, wherein participants attend to inspiring natural phenomena in order to increase joy levels as well as levels of serotonin hormone.
Once you have identified what aging gracefully means for you, set goals to help achieve it. If it involves spending more time with family members, set a goal for how often they will visit over the course of a week or month. If your health concerns require regular checkups and screenings, establish goals related to that as well; discuss any worries with your physician as soon as possible.