Do This One Thing To Help Keep Yourself Young
I am going to share a secret with y’all. If you do this one thing everyday or at least every couple days you will be sure to help keep yourself young. Oh, and you will even enjoy it.
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It seems everyone is looking for the fountain of youth these days.
You see ads everywhere for anti aging creams, drugs, natural supplements and even surgeries that will keep us looking and feeling young. It’s become a multi billion dollar industry.
Us *Boomer’s and *Gen X’rs are the ones these companies are marketing to because they are the ones that are (usually) well established and making a great share of the money.
Today, we are living longer than we ever have. Many of us look back at what we once considered to be “old” and are finding that we are no where near ready to sit on the front porch, rocking the rest of our years away.
We want to “live” those next 30, 40 and even 50 years we have left on this beautiful earth.
Well I have one of the biggest secrets to remaining young!
Are you ready for it?
Play
Yep, that’s right, you need to play.
Some of y’all may be blinking right now wondering if you read that right…. you did.
Think about it for a moment. Think about how you felt when you would be with your friends playing. I bet if you look back on it, you felt carefree and alive.
We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing – George Bernard Shaw
That is what playing will do for you.
Here are some additional benefits to playing:
Happiness – Let’s face it, if we weren’t happy when we were playing we would stop and find something else to do. When you are playing and happy, you are usually smiling. Smiling causes less frown lines around your mouth and less stress wrinkles from a furrowed brow.
Movement – Much time was playing tag, swinging on swings, riding a bike, playing Twister etc. Our bodies were moving. The human body loves to move and as we get older, we tend to move less. Playing helps to keep our bodies strong and flexible.
Reduction In Stress – When you take a break and play, you aren’t thinking about work or dinner or whatever else you have in life that is causing you stress.
Friendship – Remember when you and your friends would get together to spend the day outside? As we age, friendships are very important. Studies have found that close friendships are essential for not only happiness but also for our minds. People with a circle of a good friends seem to be less at risk of diseases of the mind.
So get out there and PLAY!
Go to a park and swing on a swing.
Slide down a slide.
Play a game of tag with your grandchild.
Play Pickleball! Did you know that this is all the rage with people over the age of 50? There are actually teams and courts everywhere. You can also buy a pickleball set to play in your own driveway HERE
Check out more about Pickleball in this video.
Grab a friend and get one of those bouncy balls with the handle on it. You will be amazed at how much fun these are. Oh and there are usually a LOT of laughs.
Jump rope or better yet, get 2 friends to hold the ends of a long jump rope and take turns jumping
Get some sidewalk chalk and draw out a hopscotch board.
Have some friends come over for a BBQ and play Kick The Can or Red Rover.
Sit down and think back to when you used to play as a child. Think of all the different things you would do. I promise, you will find one or two of those things that you can still do today.
Now go and play!
*Baby Boomers are defined as having been born between 1946 – 1964
*Generation X is defined as having been born between the years 1965 and 1976
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7 Comments
Ren
Tonight I did just what you suggested. My husband of two months (I was widowed for 18 years and he was for 4) decided it was finally warm enough to ride our bikes. I bought my bike over a year ago and had never sat on it much less rode it. Here’s the scenario: I have to wear a leg and foot brace for the rest of my life; didn’t realize that a 26″ bike would not be suitable now with my brace; didn’t realize my front wheel wasn’t secured properly on the frame and I’m wearing a short skirt with knee highs. Off we go and I’m wobbling really bad and chalking it all up to not riding a bike in 47 years. Of course, my husband was breezing right along. My heart is in my throat, but I’m going to make the best of the situation. We make it all around the apartment complex and I’m making my last turn to head back to our house. John, not realizing what he was doing, started turning around to check up on me. Here I am, shaky enough as it is, and now I have to avoid him. Needless to say I did avoid him, but did not avoid the quick turn to not hit him. There I go, down on the parking lot flat on my back. I must say I handled it very well and can now boast an elbow with skin removed, but quite usable. When he wanted to know what happened, he apologized a million times. Kept telling him it was okay; even rode my bike back to the house. As soon as I got in the door I cleaned myself up and told John I was ready to try again tomorrow. Am I going to do it tomorrow? After he makes some major changes on my bike: stabilize the front wheel, take a hacksaw to the highest bar so I can get on with my brace and lower the seat and handlebars. Am I having fun…you bet!
Two Southern Sweeties
Oh my gosh!!!! You had me smiling and cheering you on this morning while I was reading this. I could visualize the entire thing happening LOL. Thank you so much for the fantastic start to my morning.
I can’t wait to hear about how it goes on the next ride!! You go girl!!!!!!!
Tracey
Ren
Thanks Tracey. Was already to hit the road again (not literally). John was up early this morning working on my bike. He lowered the seat, tightened the front wheel, then hit a snag. Didn’t have the tools on hand to lower the handlebars nor take off the highest bar. We have to go to Dover AFB tomorrow and will get what we need. I am so ready to try again. In the meantime, we walked the route and I hardly felt a thing nor barely had to lean on my cane. Whoo Hoo.
Trish
All are great ideas that I started implementing today! I feel really positive and it also made me feel really positive about myself!
Thank you for the nudge to push me forward in such a positive approach!
Trish
Cindy
Omgoodness…
I love that very inspiring story.
It was mot only about play, but love, spirit, happy together goals. The simple things, and much more.
A skinned elbow..more like a warrior badge of honor lol.
Go for it! Have fun!
I will never forget this story, in all my days.
Ren
Thank you so much for all the upbeat replies. John and I took off yesterday and I didn’t want to stop riding my bike. Granted I’ll never be as young as when I got my first bike, but I sure felt like it. We had so much fun riding around our complex. We live behind a McDonald’s and we rode around it; not through it. A friend of my husband’s yelled out that he needed to get a move on to catch up with me. He yelled back that he was doing the best he could do. When we got to the stop sign at the end of our road, another friend of ours stopped and told me that it was a shame I had to stop and wait for him to catch up! It’s a rainy dreary day today so no bike riding for a few days. Just a little follow-up from me to all of you…find something that you truly enjoyed and can safely do again. I found my “fountain of youth.” hope you find yours too.
Kathleen Britton
For those of you who have NOT been blessed with Grandkids (like me)do something that involves youngsters..When I retired I took a job crossing kids in the morning and afternoons. I love it! I look forward to meeting new ones every school year and seeing them smile.. When I say”Have a good day”and I get a “you too”back and a wave..it makes my day!