How to enjoy old age

Are you past 50 years of age? Or perhaps even beyond 65 years, the retirement age? Do you find old age robbing you of the joy of living?

Generally, old age is a period of physical and mental decline. Man begins to lose his youthful strength and sharp memories. People start to look down on elders for they become a liability in society.

In Western cultures, old folks are placed in the homes for the aged for safety purposes. But in Asian culture, with strong family bonds and hospitality, they are part of the extended family, loved, well-taken care of, and highly respected.

One of the most important factors to enjoying old age is adjustability. It has three spheres of activity; physical health, economic sufficiency, and mental and emotional well-being.

Exercising contributes to good health. No matter what your age, you can improve your health by exercising.

If one is enjoying old age, one must give thought to proper nutrition. The more common heart disease is because of a faulty diet.

To enjoy good health, one needs sufficient rest and sleep. While one may be getting enough rest, one may not be getting enough sleep. One solution to induce sleep is to take a warm or hot bath before sleeping. Drink warm milk or herbal tea. A glass of beer or wine will help induce sleep.

To enjoy old age, one must learn to adjust to financial matters. So one must learn to adapt to more modest living habits.

The obstacle to enjoying old age is unwise mental attitudes and negative emotional patterns. Those who have exercised self-control and discipline and learned wisdom will find it comparatively easy to make the adjustments. Others let themselves become discouraged, depressed, and filled with self-pity. All such attitudes are most unwise. Appreciation of daily blessings will help one to stay clear of such pitfalls. To look forward to the rewards of each day and learn to find joy in little things.

Old age can be a time of peace of mind, contentment, and happiness. It can bring wisdom and learning in physical health, financial, mental, and emotional attitudes.

King Solomon called old age "the calamitous days" in which one would "have no delight." He referred to the unrelenting deterioration of health that occurs in old age. However, one who has failed to remember his Grand Creator in the days of his youth finds his declining years particularly calamitous. Because he has wasted his life, such an old person 'has no delight' in the latter days of his life. His godless lifestyle may even have resulted in physical problems that aggravate the discomforts of old age.

In modern times, some retired folks travel the world as a gift to themselves. Others invest their pensions in business to keep them busy under a new routine. Some would go back to being parents for the second time for their grandchildren. The few intellectuals write a memoir about their life and times.

A person who has devoted his life serving God like Abraham can find joy and satisfaction in a life well-spent. "Gray-headedness is a crown of beauty when it is found in the way of righteousness." Proverbs 16:31