[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]We have a love-hate relationship with aging. We want to live longer but don’t want to look as if we are living longer. This reflects our negative view of aging, our fear of aging, and our resistance to reality. The good news is that there is solid evidence that we stay younger for longer.
“In 1950, men and women at age 65 could expect to live about 11 years more on average. Today, that number has gone up to 17, and the United Nations forecasts that it will increase by about five more years by the end of the century.” says the World Economic Forum.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][blockquote text=”We have a love-hate relationship with aging. We want to live longer but don’t want to look as if we are living longer. This reflects our negative view of aging, our fear of aging, and our resistance to reality. The good news is that there is solid evidence that we stay younger for longer.” show_quote_icon=”yes” text_color=”#dd9933″][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Feeling younger, it turns out, is very much mind over matter. Denial plays a vital role in human survival, which helps explain why most prefer to bask in it as long as possible.
“Individuals who feel younger than they chronologically are seem to benefit from their younger subjective age in various aspects,” explained study lead author Markus Wettstein.
Surveying more than 5,000 middle-aged adults and seniors (average age 64) over a period of three years, his team found that feeling younger seems to create a protective force field against stress. And the “connection seems to work via various pathways,” said Wettstein, who was a researcher with the German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin when the study was conducted.
On the one hand, he noted that stress reduction due to a youthful self-perception may translate into tangible physical benefits, including staving off the threat of systemic inflammation.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”5844″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Having a youthful sense of self may also shape behavior in positive ways that help to keep physical and mental well-being intact.
“Individuals who feel younger may engage in health-protective behaviors,” Wettstein said. For example, they may be more physically active than those who don’t feel quite as young.
In addition, perceiving oneself to be younger might also be a motivating force behind self-improvement, giving folks a greater “health-enhancing” confidence in their ability to accomplish things successfully and effectively.
The study showed that there seems to be an indirect path from feeling younger and being healthier, in that feeling younger seems to protect people from the unhealthy effects of stress. And that this effect gets stronger as we get older. Feeling young may ultimately give rise to a so-called “virtuous cycle,” causing people to take better care of themselves, and thereby refueling a youthful sense of self.
[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”5845″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“From age 40 onwards, people report feeling about 20 percent younger than their chronological age, an amount that obviously gets bigger over time,” Sarah Barber, an expert on cognitive aging at Georgia State University. As we age, we also tend to imagine “old age” as beginning later and later, she said, further boosting our illusion that we’re still young.
We’re only as old as we feel, as they say. However, we can also be made to feel older — and frailer and less competent — when reminded of our age! Established studies call this the “stereotype threat,” meaning that when older people, or mothers, or other groups, for example, are reminded of the stereotypes about their group, they unwittingly tend to validate them.
In one study a group of people between the ages 62 to 84 were split into three groups. One group read articles linking age to cognitive decline. Another read articles describing older people who stayed sharp as they aged. The third group did no reading. All three groups then took a test that challenged them to remember several words. Guess which group forgot most of them? The first one, of course!
[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space][blockquote text=”We’re only as old as we feel, as they say. However, we can also be made to feel older — and frailer and less competent — when reminded of our age! ” show_quote_icon=”yes” text_color=”#dd9933″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]What should we do? We must face age bias — especially our own. Anything is possible — if you:
- Fight ageism—yours and others’
- Nurture and increase your relationships
- Learn ways to understand and cope with transitions and changes; and
- Use the kaleidoscope as the metaphor for viewing your life. The possibilities are endless—with each new activity, with each turn of the kaleidoscope, you begin to feel too young to be old.
- And most important of all: adopt a can-do attitude!
We all need a reason to get up in the morning, something that makes us feel we “matter” to others. Vicky, a recently retired entrepreneur, made up her mind to “repurpose” herself. She looked at her regrets and then decided to follow an earlier dream of being a writer. She now produces a weekly blog filled with interviews of people expressing their views on what counts as a successful life.
You can do what Vicky did — take stock of your strengths and limitations, slow down the pace, if necessary, but don’t give up!
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][blockquote text=”Take stock of your strengths and limitations, slow down the pace, if necessary, but don’t give up!” show_quote_icon=”yes” text_color=”#dd9933″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
