Here Comes the New Year… and the Resolutions.
Posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Resolutions are the Devil’s playground. I know. I’ve resolved to change many things and have lost many of those battles. Some resolutions take different forms as we age. The old “I’m going to get back into my size 7 jeans” just doesn’t fly anymore.
There are many changes we face as we grow, how shall I say, more mature. We find many challenges, both in our cognitive and physical changes. But, as with most things in our lives, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is we all decline both physically and cognitively as we age. The good news, if we are so fortunate, is we age. And with aging comes wisdom, and hopefully we learn to do certain things to protect and minimize, or compensate, for our weakness, aging, and decline.
Professor Margie E. Lachman, Brandeis University and Chair of the Department of Psychology & Lifespan Lab, has put our aging factors into two categories: physical decline and cognitive decline. As Dr. Lachman states in the New York Public Library website, we have choices to create and sustain a healthy body and mind as we age.
Physical decline: There are several ways, Professor Lachman has found, in which we can protect against physical declines. These factors include, but are not limited to, getting a good education, having a high sense of control, reducing stress and anxiety, exercising regularly, receiving social support, not smoking, and maintaining a favorable waist to hip ratio.
Cognitive decline: Professor Lachman also illustrates that the factors which protect against cognitive decline are somewhat similiar. They include, but are not limited to, getting a good education (even if you get it later in life), having a high sense of control, reducing stress and anxiety, exercising regularly, staying socially engaged, and engaging in cognitively stimulating activities. Dr. Lachman also suggested that it is never too late to develop these protective factors.
Dr. Lachman also suggests that there is actually good news for those folks who are fortunate enough to live into their more mature years. Psychological health, wisdom, and problem-solving skills increase as we get older. So, we should be able to see our problems more clearly, reach a reasonable conclusion about how these problems affect us, and come up with a solution more easily than our younger counterparts.
This all makes sense when you start listing your New Year’s Resolutions. Does your list read “Lose Weight, Find a New Job, Get in Shape, Join the Gym, Meet Someone Special, Organize the Closets, and Remodel the Bathroom”? Or does your resolution list read “Walk Every Day, Take a Class, Open a Savings Account, Buy a Bike, Read Books in My Own Bookcase, Learn How to Play Poker, Float in the Pool, Meet Friends Once a Week, Build a Snowman, Take Someone Special to the Library, Learn a New Word Every Day, Play Outside”. One list is a directive; the other is an opportunity to enjoy life and sustain physical and mental health.
When you put together your New Year’s Resolutions, think about what you would resolve to do each morning, not what you resolve to accomplish during the year. I think if you read the factors that Dr. Lachman attribute to a healthier you, you’ll come up with resolutions that you can actually live with, and live for.
Subscribe to RemarkableWrinklies.com by Email
My New Year resolutions include….a trip to my favorite bookstore, snowshoe and make snow angels! So are there sand angels for you fair weather friends?
Concise, informative, thought-provoking and makes me want to make as my own, all the resolutions on the 2nd resolution list. Love it! And you rock!
Hi MB,
Oh yea… sand angels it is! Although the clean up is a little more intense after a sand angel… if ya know what I mean… but much warmer. Hey, I sure love that you’re reading my stuff. It makes me happy and hopeful. Take care!
Hello there OSS,
How kind of you to drop in and catch up on my ramblings again! I’m so glad you found a resolution or two to choose. I loved writing them down and I hope that is enough motivation to get me living them. Thanks for thinking I rock… when you reach a certain age, it’s not so evident sometimes, eh? Love ya!