growing old gracefully

These three ladies are epitome of growing old gracefully. They are retired, and they volunteer in many capacities.

A cousin who is much younger than me just retired from the civil service. She had to attend a convention, and they taught the pre-retirees what to do with their time, including dabbling with stocks and shares. I am reminded of a British colleague who said, “The moment you stop learning, you die.” Less blunt is our Chinese saying ,“Xue de lau, Wio de lau.   ”

As we age, it is important to exercise our brain. A friend told me, she wrote because it staves off memory-loss illness like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Of late, I pick up a career, free-lance writing. It gives me much joy and satisfaction. As a freedom writer who follows no rules, because I am the rule maker. Most of my writing is for fun, sometimes I get paid. Isn’t that motivation enough? In fact, I am now “married “ to the computer.

Others might enjoy crossword puzzles. Or if you are, like my husband , mathematically minded, and do suduku.

Enjoy new hobbies, sing, dance, gardening, playing golf if you can afford it, go for long walks, it is free.  Do tai chi which is supposed to be very good. Travel abroad with spouse, family and friends.

Have your medical check-up and keeps things tidy and have a will.

Have a bucket list. Do something incredible. At 50, I ran the quarter marathon. It was a great physical discipline. Now it boosts my ego when I tell my students I ran the marathon and showed them my medal.