Ya Gotta Have a Plan

Want to live a long, healthy, happy life?

YA GOTTA HAVE A PLAN.

Right now, I’m taking a class that is preparing me to (hopefully) become a Certified Senior Advisor (more about that in a future post).

The curriculum includes six 200-page manuals that cover virtually every aspect of older adulthood: physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, financial, legal, spiritual, and more.

Approximately 300 pages into the course, an important theme has emerged:

If we want to live long, healthy, happy lives, we need to focus on five essential activities:

Eat healthy foods. Exercise. Get enough sleep. Reduce stress. Stay connected to the people and causes you care about.

Now, if you’re like me, not all of these activities (or, perhaps more accurately, ANY of them) come to you naturally.

You’ve got to work to incorporate them into your lifestyle. 

Case in point: my go-to snack of choice is full-fat, full-dairy ICE CREAM. Haagen Dazs Coffee, to be more specific.

Last week, I roasted some kale chips (much to the dismay of my husband) because I heard crunchy snacks were particularly beneficial. And while I actually liked the taste and texture, I wasn’t so keen on the after-effects.

So, back to carrot and celery sticks it is.

And even though we have a fully-equipped gym in our building, my track record of actually getting there weekly—much less DAILY—is pretty grim.

As for sleep, stress, and maintaining connections, I have at least made some pretty decent strides in those areas over the past couple of months—and will continue to do so in the weeks and months (and years) ahead.

All that said, one idea this curriculum has reinforced for me is that preparing for older adulthood is kind of like training to be an athlete.

It requires a focus on diet, exercise, sleep, mindset, and surrounding ourselves with people who care about and support us.

Achieving longevity is very much like running an ultra-marathon—only this ultra-marathon doesn’t have a set starting point or finish line. None of us can predict how long the course will be.

And while training for it requires us to make a long-term commitment—lucky for all of us, it’s a regimen we can start at virtually any stage of our lives.

So, as I approach the beginning of the next third of my life, I do so with the understanding that I’ve got a lot of work—and planning—to do to ensure these next 35 years are everything I want and NEED them to be.

Which includes a scoop of Haagen Dazs Coffee every once in a while. After all, its ingredients are only coffee, cream, skim milk, cane sugar, and egg yolks.

Sounds like the Breakfast of Champions to me!!!