Seniors Site

To welcome the year right, I’m happy to announce that according to CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention we are now experiencing an all time high in life expectancy! CDC’s press release was made last August 19, 2009. Indeed, it came as great news for seniors since it was reported that age-related deaths have now gone down. The press release also contains interesting facts about death and mortality rates as well as life expectancy and survival rate. You can view the press release here.

As usual, the two leading causes of death are cancer and heart disease. Simple explanation has it that the latter is somewhat controllable but can attack anytime without any warning while the former still has no known cause, as well as cure. Running fourth with a very large percentage difference from the two is respiratory disease and somewhere further down are Parkinson’s, liver and Alzheimer’s diseases.

So what are your chances of having a long and happy life? High of course!—especially if you make it happen. By taking the extra effort in making sure you are living a healthy lifestyle and avoiding the things that may harm you, longer lives are sure to be within reach. Of course, longevity should come with quality of life. Basic rules still apply:

·    Exercise. I’ve noticed that seniors are now getting into sports and just being active, enjoying what life brings. With the advent of technology, we’re able to free ourselves from the bond that ties us in close, office spaces and out to the world! Work-at-home jobs enabled us to have the flexibility to participate in other activities we truly enjoy doing.
·    Personal health maintenance. This includes taking preventive measures to ensure you are adequately covered. The government is now active in making it easier for us to take care of ourselves. It seems that the government’s health campaign, Healthy People 2010, is indeed a success! Regular checkups are still the best, no matter how much you dread it!
·    Healthy diet. Diet is not all about losing weight. You should only lose weight if you have excess pounds that are threatening to kill you. A healthy diet should mean a diet that is good for your body. Seniors should never eat in excess nor deprive the body of the nutrients it needs, only in healthy portions recommended by your doctor. Also, it’s best if you stay away from the nasties such as fatty and sugary foods.
·    Socialize. According to a study made in Australia, it was found out that friends are very important in a senior’s life. The study concluded that seniors with a large network of friends fared better than those who keep only a few.
·    Broaden your horizons. Travel a lot. If with budget constraints, then explore your city or its neighboring towns. Learn new things and share your life with others. The idea behind it is to bring back your zest for life.

We, seniors, are all for restoring our once-green environment and as much as possible, we adapt certain lifestyle adjustments just to keep up with the advocacy. In doing so, we believe that somehow we are alleviating the stress of the human impact which apparently, Mother Nature is not taking it anymore. I say, we can’t blame her!

Holidays are one of the occasions when we tend to forget our green ways and just do what pleases us. To celebrate a joyful occasion without making the environment pay for it IS indeed possible, if we just act consciously. In time, it will be like an instinct deeply instilled within us.

The idea behind green holidays is to reduce waste as much as possible. The problem however, is that the notion of a festive holiday always involves all things new and shiny. This even includes gifts and the box they should be packaged in. Here are some suggestions to make your holidays as green as possible!

·    Seniors should invest in a sturdy, fashionable eco bag, weeks before your scheduled holiday shopping. This will come in handy during Christmas rush when you just have to put everything in one place and not worry about misplacing any. Eco bags are usually big to accommodate your shopping needs with a small pocket for receipts. Eco bags will eliminate the need for several plastic bags and unnecessary, nonreusable packaging that come with each and every purchase you make.
·    Seniors should make sure that their gifts are something that can be used by the recipient and not something that will be considered as a white elephant! If you don’t know the recipient very well, then go for gifts that you know they will eventually use, such as organic soaps, wines or even a fruit basket!
·    Break the real-or-fake-Christmas-tree debate by adorning your pretty and very much alive tree firmly planted in your own front yard! If there’s no suitable tree in sight then it’s about time for you to plant and care for one! Inside your home, you can choose a right sized plant together with its pretty pot, to stand as your Christmas tree.
·    If seniors need to ship their gifts to their loved-ones living faraway, go for shipping companies that practice environment-safety precautions like measuring their carbon footprints and such. Information about their practices can usually be found in their websites.
·    I’m not a huge fan of reused gift wraps since they tend to be a not-so pretty sight to look at. My suggestion is to buy a 100% recycled gift wraps or better yet, put your gifts inside an eco bag. While you’re at it, encourage the recipient to use the eco bag when shopping!

Just a few more winks and we’re officially living under the year 2010! Isn’t it amazing how far we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished in just a year? It seems like it was only yesterday when we put together our new year’s resolutions for 2009, planted the seeds, see it grow and harvested its fruits for the very first time. Of course, I was talking about money-making ventures which our fellow seniors might have started this year. I bet those who have jumped on the bandwagon are now having the time of their lives and have adjusted well to their new lifestyle—that, being proud business owners!

When putting up your own business, it is most recommended that you stick with the ones you are largely interested with. This may be something that you have been doing for ages or perhaps something that you’re interested to learn. This is done because ventures involve 100% dedication in making it work and of course, survive, considering today’s market climate. Putting up your own business is pure hardwork and it can be frustrating at times. Attention too, can waver, if you’re not really into it. Besides, if you have to work for money, then might as well do it while having fun!

In line with popular New Year’s resolutions for seniors, we are putting up together great business ideas that are perfect for our age group:

·    Staying fit and active:  Fitness centers that specifically cater to seniors and older adults; health stores, particularly natural and organic products; online resource pages for seniors’ health such as blogs and websites; personal training services; organic farm; sports equipment store.
·    Active participation in the community especially within your age group:  Adult day care centers; support and training for caregivers; planning and consultation services for senior housing; retirement and nursing facilities; recruitment agency for senior citizen; pet grooming shop/pet day care.
·    Socialize more:  Dating services; online niche dating services; matchmaking services; gift shops, both online and offline; call centers; outsourcing company or firm; events organizing services.
·    Save and earn:  Marketing consultancy; business planning firm; support and training facilities for business owners; home-based business; accounts assistance; business franchise; distribution center; repair/alter center such as auto, shoe or bag; collection services.
·    Learn new things:  Tutorial services; training facilities; seminars; web design services; DIY business such as organic soap making and beaded bags; bake shop; writing and proofreading services.

After Christmas comes New Year and New Years clearly signify deep soul searching and assessment of your life especially what you’ve been doing these past 365 days. From there, seniors are compelled to move on from these things, leave them completely behind and start anew hence New Year’s resolutions!

What I love about New Year’s resolutions is that they represent hope and actually looking forward to something. Another thing that makes it more special is that the warmth feeling of Christmas can still affect the way you get your resolutions together. Sadly, soon after the holidays and we go back to our normal, 365-days-kind-of-life a.k.a reality, New Year’s resolutions can be quickly forgotten.

Every year, our resolutions evolve to what suit our lives at the present. Generation to generation, it seems that New Year’s resolutions take different faces, different hopes and different levels of will power to make it work. For seniors, it’s mostly lifestyle changes and new things to conquer. Here some popular New Year’s resolution for seniors:

•    Start exercising. I think this is the most popular New Year’s resolution for all ages. By the time you start noticing you don’t look too great in the mirror and the clothes you wear are no longer age-appropriate, that’s when exercising becomes a serious business. For seniors, exercising becomes all the more important due to whatever health condition you might be having right now.
•    Reach out to other people. As crazy as it may seem, when you reach a certain age, friends become important to one’s life. It’s because seniors do need someone to accompany them. To share their emotions, whether happy or sad, or even mad. No matter how much you successfully multiplied during your younger years, it’s not uncommon at some point, to find yourself lonesome without someone to talk to. Reaching out to other people, in your community, at workplace, can help you get over these lonely times and enjoy life in general.
•    Catch up with friends and families. If you have been busy making new friends, you might have disappeared entirely from your old ones’ lives without you even realizing it. Now is the best year to make both worlds coexist with one another.
•    Downgrade your lifestyle. That is, if you haven’t yet. When we say downgrading, it doesn’t always mean we’re going penniless. Downgrading nowadays means doing without the things we don’t really need and disposing of the things that have been cluttering our lives to make way for newer and greater things.
•    Learn new things. The more we learn, the wider our horizons. Even if we are already hitting the golden years, it doesn’t mean there are no more to learn. There are always new things to learn, we just have to know where to find them.

One of the most common practices we seniors usually do during the holidays is reflection. Together with your reflection comes self check. During these times, we try our best to assess what we were able to accomplish and what we missed in our lives. After much deliberation comes planning for the coming year, including short and long term goals. This is done to encourage yourself to always look forward and hope for the best. The downside however is the so-called holiday blues.

Holiday blues can be triggered by the season. Holiday season brings forth sweet memories from the past which may include your lost loved-ones. Also aggravating the bad feeling are health problems you might be having now. Another reason to have the holiday blues is your current financial situation. When combined, it can be a recipe for disaster!

Holiday blues are deeply acknowledged by health professionals since it was observed as a common occurrence during holiday seasons. However, there are ways to avoid holiday blues from attacking seniors, as suggested by doctors:

·    When loneliness strikes, seek other people’s company. This doesn’t mean seniors just calling a friend and talking over the phone or social-network marathon but you have to force yourself to go out and have fun, with real people. Be physically there. If you don’t know where to start, or are afraid of being rejected then go for volunteer programs where you can share yourself to new faces and personalities. Actually, it’s impossible to not have somebody, it’s just, you’re not reaching out hard enough.
·    Avoid drinking too much. When you do, it effectively brings down your inhibitions, making you more vulnerable to hurt. Alcohol is a known depressant that is why your doctors strictly advise against it when suffering depression.
·    Get someone to talk to you. You need to take it off your chest. Senior centers have counseling groups to assist you when nobody is available to talk, don’t hesitate to seek help when you need them.
·    Depression has signs, it is best if you get yourself familiar with them. The soonest you recognize these signs, the better you’ll be able to handle the situation.
·    Try to divert your attention to something else totally unrelated to what is bothering you. Do something daring or a task you’ve been meaning to do for a long time. Sense of accomplishment can easily counteract depression.
·    Even if it seems easier to stay at home and be with yourself, resist it. You need to be out there and discover the world and what it has to offer you now. You can never find these things alone.

Depression is a state wherein the only person who could help you overcome it is yourself. Yes, help can be sought but it can only do so much for you. Deciding what’s best for you, still, is the best way to beat the holiday blues.

Holidays are not only meant for giving gifts and exchanging cards. Along with it comes good food and unhealthy practices. While it’s quite understandable due to the jolliness of it all, we should always remember that keeping healthy still means a lot to an aging body but that doesn’t necessarily mean we must miss out on the fun!

By the way, staying healthy is not limited to the physical aspects of it alone. Sometimes, holidays can also bring about emotional and mental stress. In order for us to really enjoy our holidays, we must take some precautionary measures thus allowing us some time to breath. This is really important so that after the holidays, we can easily slip back to our old routines and not feel drained and emptied.

For quick and easy ways to maintain right equilibrium over the holidays, here are some suggestions:

·    Renew your spiritual grounds—Christmas rush can easily make us forget what the holidays are really for. Renewing your faith in God will certainly give you the spiritual satisfaction you might have been looking for.
·    Renew your senses—It’s easy to overlook things that are there for you to see especially if you were bound with obligations and responsibility. This is the perfect time to get to know your self again and discover new things around you.
·    Plan ahead—To plan is to organize. If you plan early, you will be able to do things according to their right timing thus allowing yourself some time to rest and relax before the big day. Also, planning eliminates stress of last-minute whatnots.
·    Let go of your baggage—Holidays can also mean family get-togethers which sometimes prove to be a painful affair. Old quarrels can easily be brought up and long overdue spats rekindled. You, being the oldest of the pack should be the first one to let go of old arguments and promote love within the family.
·    Indulge yourself—Not by eating of course! Indulging yourself should mean keeping your overall outlook happy and light. Treat yourself to a day in spa with your partner or do something you have been meaning to do for quite sometime.
·    Discover outdoors—If you are one of the many seniors working indoors and spending too much time doing everything else over the internet then now is the time to go out and discover the joys of outdoors. You’ll be amazed on how the world evolved the last time you were out!
·    Choose what you eat—People nowadays are more conscious of the food they eat so it’s fairly easy to skip on the unhealthy stuff and be on the healthier side. If you feel you are going in a war zone where healthy foods are not an option, then it’s best to prepare and bring your own food while disguising it as your contribution to the festivities. This way, the host won’t feel offended if you choose not to eat the unhealthy stuff.
·    Stick with your exercise routine—This may be the hardest to keep since it’s really tempting to just sleep, eat and be merry all holiday long. Unfortunately, two weeks of being “merry” will certainly make a dent out of our healthy lifestyle so better exercise than regret later.
·    Hydrate yourself—Make water your best buddy this Christmas. Why? It’s because it’s never good to be dehydrated. That’s why.

So it’s time for Christmas parties and your officemates have just appointed you as the official party organizer, what now? While party organizing may not be new to you—and must be the reason why you were dearly voted by your fellow coworkers—still, it can be quite troublesome to think of new and inventive ways to keep your party rolling.

If you think keeping children entertained all throughout a party is hard, then you must have been out of the party scene for quite a while! Even if older adults have, in time, developed an ability to entertain themselves during the most boring of parties, the fact that they do remember who threw that party tends to ruin the party organizer’s reputation. So if you happen to have thrown a flop party, expect a minimal amount of people attending your next. With that said, you should know that each and every time you organize a party, you must make sure it will be a hit or else, never attempt again. EVER.

Here are some Christmas party ideas for seniors and older adults to give your party a little spice:

·    Christmas Charades—charades are always fun and they never fail to crack up a roomful of adults. Just make sure that you throw in some Christmas feel into it such as dressing up the person who would act out with Santa hat or elves’ vest.
·    White Elephant Gift Exchange—the game of gift exchange has many variations as its mechanics keep on changing over time. The original way of doing it involves stealing and swapping gifts until you get the most coveted gift in the pack.
·    Pictionary—if your guests can act out, then they can also have fun drawing things up to win a price! The fun begins when hard items come up so make sure you have lots of them mixed with easy ones.
·    Icebreakers games—there are lots of variations for icebreakers but what I love most is the one where you get your question and answer it out loud no matter how embarrassing the question is! Icebreakers are great for getting to know your officemates more, in a way, an activity that promotes team-building and camaraderie.
·    Spa party—if you have money to spend and your officemates are willing to have a relaxing night to prepare their tired and weary bodies for the holidays ahead, spa parties are the greatest for older adults! Spa packages are available inhouse and oncall, whichever is the most convenient for you and your guests.

Personally, the greatest place to spend Christmas is right inside your own home with your family and loved-ones gathered together. But, in some cases, Christmas can be the only time to get away from it all, i.e your tiring work and never-ending responsibilities. Because of this, we know how important it can get to find the perfect place to celebrate Christmas and capture that joyful feeling once again.

Many seniors opt to use the holidays to visit friends and families who live far. This includes daughters and sons who somehow managed to live oceans apart from us. It’s the perfect time to get to know “new additions” to the family and compensate for the lost time with our grandchildren. Meanwhile, some senior couples who have money to spend treat the whole family to a vacation. This way, they will all be able to spend time as one big family and at the same time, make new memories in great places.

Indeed, Christmas is a very busy time for everybody. If you haven’t checked flights yet, you’ll be amazed to see that most of them are no longer accepting passengers. If this is not the time for you to host parties, check out these great Christmas destinations to visit:

·    If the whole family is coming with you and you have kids in tow, be sure to check out Disneyland in Orlando, Florida. Disneyland has all the right ingredients for a perfect Christmas celebrations for seniors and kids alike. It’s a theme park, it has great hotels and of course, it’s magical. Aside from that, you can also visit other theme parks while in Orlando.
·    Christmas season can be so nasty to our aching bones and joints. To get away from it all and discover a culture that is a whole lot different from what we practice, why not visit Hawaii? There are Christmas concerts, parades and performances that are done every year. Let’s not forget the sun, sea and sand—lot’s of them!
·    Looking for something fun, daring and plain crazy? Go to Vegas and you can never go wrong! Las Vegas is, hands down, one of the best places during holidays, in fact, it’s a great place to visit the whole year round. For one, seniors will have a great time checking out hotels with festive arrangements. If you think Vegas is a bright place, expect it to be at its brightest during this time of the year.
·    If you just can’t get enough of the snow and you ski like it’s going out of style, then check out ski resorts in England. What really sets the place apart from other ski resorts is that England spends Christmas the traditional way so expect the warmth to creep up on you. Also, there are many interesting places you can visit in England that are sure to enrich the mind and heart.
·    If you plan to fall inlove this Christmas or perhaps rekindle the romance, don’t forget Italy. Catch the midnight mass with the Pope in Vatican, although you must make arrangements ahead of time for this. Feel the love in Venice and watch the nativity scene being played while holding hands with someone you dearly love!

If you have had travels in the past, you would know about the necessary steps you need to take for you to finally board that plane (for international travels, that is). First decision to make is where to go i.e travel destination. It seems that the most preferable destination is the farthest from where you are right now—some exotic place far from anything that will remind you of your obligations, responsibilities and whatnot. While roadtrips are fun, they are not too advisable for seniors to take since the roads offer many hazardous things for an aging body. Your best bets are by air and by sea.

Next are booking flights and securing travel insurance for you. The former is easier to do as there are many online travel agencies ready to take flight bookings 24/7. Also, booking flights online is much cheaper and convenient than going about it physically. However, the latter can be considered as an obstacle sometimes. Back then, travel insurances were only done for formalities sake, nowadays, rules have become stricter in which seniors are taking the direct hit. Apparently, insurance companies consider someone of advance age too risky to cover even if you’re a longtime client or you’re fit as ever. Aside from that, travel insurances may cost more than the trip itself. Nonetheless, you need them if you want to proceed with your holiday plans so better do it than regret later. Another tip, there are travel insurances available to be used once and they are easier to obtain but if you are a chronic traveler, this may not be a good idea for you.

After wrestling with that pesky travel insurance, it’s time to pack your bags and prepare yourself for the trip. Admit it or not, we older adults have a lot to pack now than we used to. It’s really important to keep “life-or-death” things within reach at all times. Invest in a sturdy hand bag that can hold your stuff without tearing apart. Inside, keep everything at bare essentials such as wallet, money, medications, travel documents and numbers to call for emergencies. Always keep in mind that indeed luggage can be lost anywhere between your point of departure to the point of destination so it is wise to plan for this as well.

If your holiday plans include visiting relatives, do yourself a favor by shipping your gifts ahead of time. No need to stress yourself over these wrapped boxes while checking in your bags—it’s just too much trouble for a senior’s body when you can ship them easily—and cheaply—via your friendly neighborhood courier.

Even if this post is titled as such, it doesn’t mean that seniors are manipulative people. On the contrary, they are most vulnerable in the hands of predators who are always on the look out for the perfect prey—unfortunately, they see the senior group as one of the easiest to manipulate since most seniors are very trusting in nature.

Generally speaking—and sadly enough—manipulation exists everywhere! A senior can find them prevalent in workplace and even in your own home, with your own defenses down, it may be present. It can be just about any other person, no matter the extent or degree of relationship. These people take advantage of the “first encounters” as these usually are void of any defensive feelings.

Whether seniors like it or not, the world is not a perfect place. It has its own faults. We, on the other hand, would like to believe that it is indeed perfect as it would be much easier to live in it if it were. Meanwhile, manipulation happens for one reason: for selfish satisfaction—and some people are really good at this, you wouldn’t even know you’re being manipulated. Manipulative people share certain characteristics. These are their common denominator, a way to spot them. If you spot these ahead of time, you’ll be able to extract yourself from the situation and be forewarned with any future dealings with this person hence saving you from falling for their scams and schemes.

CHARACTERISTIC 1:  Compliments, compliments, compliments. What better way to make someone move to desired direction than showering them with compliments, unwarranted and otherwise? This is especially true for seniors who longed to be appreciated but their loved-ones failed to do so.

CHARACTERISTIC 2:  Guilt-tripper. An experienced manipulator will know your weaknesses. If you’re the kind of person who would not want to be blamed for anything hence always doing your share of work then a guilt-tripper is your worst kind of manipulator. He’ll make you do things just because you have to, not because you like what you are doing.

CHARACTERISTIC 3:  Nagger. This person will pester you until you give in just to shut them up. It’s quite hard to say “no” to these people without hurting their feelings but once you gave in, they’ll pester you again tomorrow so its better to clear rules now and ask questions later.

CHARACTERISTIC 4:  A bully. Bullying is an art perfected in grade school. Through the years, expect a bully to continually hone their craft and get what they want from people. They may be tough but you, as your own person, deserve to do whatever you want and not get orders from someone else. Besides, it’s about time they do their own work.