What Will It Take for You to Age Successfully?
What Will It Take for You to Age Successfully?
I feel like (especially from personal experience) that aging is one of those things that we sometimes like to ignore or just downplay. Simply because it is often associated with physical and cognitive decline. And, well, I don’t feel like anyone likes to think about those things, nor where all of us are ultimately headed as mortal beings (death).
So, in 1999, John Wallis Rowe and Robert Louis Kahn (the latter being a psychologist and social scientist) wrote a book about how to age successfully–which was based on 10 years of their combined research in the field of aging. This book (entitled Successful Aging) started a movement based on its title. The two authors argued that instead of aging being solely based on genetics, that factors such as diet, exercise, mental stimulation, social engagement, and social support contributed the most towards successful aging.
However, one of the problematic issues from the book is that the authors also argued that one of the factors of successful aging was the absence of chronic disease–a luxury that is not afforded to everyone. So, to somewhat counter (and to be a companion to) this model of successful aging from 1999, a researcher from Cologne, Germany developed a model that she labeled CHAPO (Marina Plugge’s Challenges And Potentials Model).
In this model, Plugge argues that even if (or especially when) an individual encounters a chronic disease with age (such as arthritis), that they can still maintain their own individual definition of successful aging by making an effort to maintain their optimism in spite of their day-to-day struggles.
So, certainly, Mariana Plugge offers a more holistic (and subjective) model and definition of successful aging. Which I personally find offers more accessibility (literally and metaphorically) to those individuals who might already be battling a chronic disease or condition.
Read the full article here
And as a question to you all (no matter your current age), when you personally think of what it will take for you to age successfully, what are the first few things that enter into your mind?
#Aging, Successfulaging, #Optimism
@sereneSunset26 Great post!
I'm almost 20 and feeling very weird about no longer being a teen actually haha. it's a rather peculiar feeling, like times just slipping by and that i'm not a child anymore. That's I haven't achieved as much as i would've wanted to.
But at the same time, if i really take a truly encompassing look, I have achieved things i didn't think i could, overcome challenges and situations i didn't think I could. So at the end of the day i am where I am and I'm content with it. But i would also like to continue working on want i want without moping about the coulda-shoulda-woulda's.
I think that's aging successfully. Having a realistic perception of self and reality, accepting the bad and good, and continuing to find things to want and live for while being thankful for the good that was there despite the bad.
@zealousGrace5023
I'm almost 20 and feeling very weird about no longer being a teen actually haha. it's a rather peculiar feeling, like times just slipping by and that i'm not a child anymore. That's I haven't achieved as much as i would've wanted to.
For me, when I turned 20, I still felt pretty young and I figured that my 20's would last/feel like forever. However, with the passage of time being what it is, I felt like I blinked and I turned 30. At that point, I kind of just made my peace with the fact that time is going to continue to pass quicker (to me) as I get older. So I just try to enjoy everyday. :)
But at the same time, if i really take a truly encompassing look, I have achieved things i didn't think i could, overcome challenges and situations i didn't think I could. So at the end of the day i am where I am and I'm content with it. But i would also like to continue working on want i want without moping about the coulda-shoulda-woulda's.
To me, this is just a wise mindset to have, especially at your age. I've found for both myself as well as the people I've talked to who have been through their fair share of stuff at younger ages that those people tend to have personal perspectives that are full of the wisdom learned from those experiences.
I think that's aging successfully. Having a realistic perception of self and reality, accepting the bad and good, and continuing to find things to want and live for while being thankful for the good that was there despite the bad.
100%! I feel you really hit the nail on the head with all of this. Having that realistic perception of ourselves like that requires a self-awareness that I believe is rare in and of itself. So yeah, I feel like knowing who we are, who we aren't, along with having the kind of gratitude for life that can keep us going is all part of the key to aging successfully.
