Seniors Site

Happiness is something we chase all our lives. Honestly, if you ask me now, I would probably tell you that the only human beings not really bothered with being happy are infants. But then again, maybe all those crying could also signify their unhappiness. Regardless of age, we all want to be happy right? But it seems there are times happiness is so elusive, it can be frustrating.

Anyway, if we are to believe Dalai Lama, happiness can actually be achieved, and it is not so elusive afterall. We just have to start with ourselves and work our way out. It is even possible to rub some of your happiness off with people around you who might be in dire need of some happiness in their life.

According to Dalai Lama, happiness is a state of mind which I firmly agree. However, you need to be fulfilled before you can achieve complete happiness. This only means that you should be happy in every aspect of your life, be it worldly and/or intangible.

Dalai Lama recommends that you train your mind to be happy. Of all the things you could do with a human brain, training is one thing you can sure do with it. Happiness is all about attitude, your attitude towards things, and how you react on certain things. I remember a saying “a coin always has two sides” which is true. Something so negative could be positive too, it’s just how you see things that matters most. So it all boils down to how your mind was trained to be in constant happiness.

Thanks to yoga and other meditative techniques, calmness of the mind has become easier to achieve. That you don’t really have to sweat it to be able to calm your mind or exert a lot of effort to do this. Calming techniques, when learned, not only eliminates stress but also helps you to focus on more important things than wasting your time dwelling on unproductive and “over-and-done-with” past. This will also help you to keep on moving forward and be able to feel content and satisfied with what you are achieving right now.

Positivity is very important in your pursuit of happiness. Negativity only has destructive effects on your life and would not - will never - yield long-desired happiness. Learn to let go of the negative things you have been feeling and abhorring and never be influenced by anger. Most importantly, educate yourself, because the better you understand things, the lesser negativity could get to you.

Always remember that good things only bring about good vibes. Knowing that you only have good intentions to start with will only lead to harvesting and ultimately achieving, happiness.

I don’t know about you but I’ve been battling undereye circles, puffy eyes and eye wrinkles for only God-knows when. I’ve tried everything, from natural remedies to eye creams although I am not yet ready for “the knife”. Not that I have anything against it, it’s just that I felt I haven’t gotten that far yet.

So you could say that all my efforts were not done in vain. While my eye area may show signs of aging, it’s not as horrible as it should be considering my age. But, I tell you, it takes an awful lot of time, effort and commitment for such result. Every single day, you need to pay close attention to your peepers and make up for the time or day you ignored it. Sometimes, it gets a little frustrating too.

Overtime, I was able to come up with a nice and doable regimen for my eye skin care. Below are some of the things you need to observe when caring for the skin around your eyes:

• Puffy eyes have a reason. While they can get quite hard to predict, getting to the bottom of it can help you avoid getting puffy eyes again. Eye creams can only do so much, it’s impossible for eye creams to be able to fight something unbeknownst to them especially if it is something genetic which is mostly the cause of puffy eyes. Also, take into consideration fluid retention as this could also cause puffy eyes. When your body hold on to water, your eye skin which is basically thinner than anywhere else tend to swell more noticeably. Try the good old cucumber and tea bag remedy, while it may not eliminate swelling at once, they help reduce it.
• Eye creams with caffeine. This is for those who have problems with water retention thus puffy eyes. Since caffeine is a known diuretic, it will help drain excess fluid on the eye area.
• Gently massage the eye area, careful not to cause too much friction between your fingers and delicate eye skin. When massaging the skin around your eye, it would help if you apply an eye cream or eye gel first so that your fingertips won’t rub the skin too much.
• Dark circles can also be a result of hyperpigmentation. It can be your genes (again) or unconsciously rubbing the eye area. If you notice your eyes to be very itchy at times, try to consult with your eye doctor as dry eyes are also part of the aging process and it can get really uncomfortable.
• Try not to frown too much since collagen levels (the substance that is responsible for ironing up your skin straight) diminishes over time. In other words, one time you frown could mean there’s no erasing that permanent line made.

Caring for your heart, or at least, taking measured steps to a healthier heart should begin at 40. This is because when you reach this age, you are less physically active than you ever were but more mind stressed than you’ll ever be. Bear in mind that if you hit the sack at night feeling drained and energy-less, that doesn’t mean you got your fair share of physical activeness. You could be fatigued just by sitting in a corner and thinking of 101 different things at the same time.

So when you hit the age of 40, better start consciously planning your activities according to what’s best for your heart. For this, you could consult with your cardiologist during your annual visits and checkups, ask if a certain activity is suitable for you and what things should be considered during these activities. Moreover, it wouldn’t hurt if you start asking your cardio doctor about tests for more in-depth assessment of your heart’s status. You should, by now, have your own heart doctor, find one if you still haven’t any.

Keep in mind that this is the age when you should get your physical self moving. Set aside some time for your daily exercises no matter how impossible it seems considering your current daily schedule of activities. If it helps, consider yourself as one of your responsibilities, that if you can do things for your kids, parents and husband, certainly you can do things for yourself too. You owe yourself and your body that much anyway.

Also, exercising is not only for those who would like to drop pounds so even if you don’t really need to trim down, you still need to get moving in order to maintain a healthy heart. Work with your cardiologist to be able to detect signs if your heart is in danger or if you’re at risk. There are risk assessment procedures that could be done, just ask your doctor about it.

Do take note of your past and recent surgeries as they may have put you at risk for heart problems. Not all surgeries do, but recent studies find that some of the most simple of surgeries put a patient in higher risk of developing heart problems. Have your doctor check for calcifications in other parts of your body. If you are a girl, mammogram shows specks of calcifications which are usually brushed off by your oncologist but should be noted by your cardiologist.

Again, regular checkups will help you. As simple as monitoring your blood pressure, your pulse rate, glucose levels, your weight and BMI can help you detect heart problems early on.

If you’re a senior and looking for something to occupy your time, you might want to give triathlons a try.

In a nutshell, for those of you who are clueless as to what is a triathlon (which I assume not too many?) The sport involves swimming, biking and running. If you have heard of the “Ironman” then you’re on the right page as this seems to be the most popular of all triathlons.

While the idea of triathlons can be a little overwhelming for some seniors especially those who are fairly new to the world of exercise and getting fit, you would be amazed to know that about half of the senior population is already engaging in this kind of sport – and they are having the time of their lives at that!

Actually, Triathlon organizers agree that most of their participants are ages 35 and above which means the sport has become popular with older people. It was reported that the average age of a triathlete is 38. If you are not convinced then try watching a televised triathlon, most have a diverse group of people: midlifers, grandfathers, wives, etc unless it is the brutal Ironman, of course. Nowadays, triathlons that cater to not-so-pro are organized which only added the appeal for newbies to join.

Triathlons are perfect for seniors since it improves their social lives while keeping them physically active at the same time. It also improves their outlook in life and boosts confidence.

However, it is important to note that joining triathlons can be expensive so if you are on a budget, this may not be the right sport for you. Training for triathlon alone could cost several thousand dollars considering the quality of your road bike and other important accessories. Also, training for the sport would require your time, roughly five days a week, 6 if you are really pushing it. Commitment is very important if you join a triathlon.

Senior triathletes happily reported that triathlons are fun and very much fulfilling. The idea of learning and understanding your body better at their age and knowing its limits seem to seal the deal and reason enough to make seniors get on the bandwagon. Also, for some reason, senior traithletes find triathlons to be more agreeable to their body than any other sports. If you are looking for some more socializing while doing triathlons, join group trainings wherein you can meet people with same interests as well as pros in such sporting event.

Seniors can be creatures of habit especially if in a lifelong marriage or in a relationship that has exceeded 10 years. It is, of course, normal to fall into stereotypical ways of saying “I love you” when the occasion calls for it. Like, sending flowers and chocolates to your ladylove on a Valentine’s Day, not even considering that she is a diabetic. Or perhaps organizing a massive dinner for two when your hubby is just too tired to even prop himself up on a chair for 10 minutes. These little things can cause disappointments actually, especially if you are expecting a reaction and not getting it exactly the way you wanted. However, if you think of it, you were not exactly thinking about making your other half happy but instead, you expect them to be happy which is not really cute, if you ask me.

So below are some of the new – old and rediscovered actually - ways you can express your love which your other half would appreciate more:

• Write them a love letter. If you are like half of the American population who don’t have any idea what to do with their hands anymore but to type on a keyboard, this is the right time to take the long route and rediscover “the paper and the pen”. They were your bestfriends when you started courting so it won’t hurt to give it another try.
• Prepare a simple, well thought-of meal and serve it during a mealtime when he or she won’t really expect it, like snacks or breakfast (do this if you haven’t done it before but if you do this regularly then think of another time when you haven’t)
• Bring them to a place where you call “your own”. It can be your porch or perhaps that little spot out the garden or the beach where you proposed. A couple always have a place so dear in their hearts so crank up your fogging memory and come up with the most memorable place you as a couple have ever been.
• Pick her flowers, from your garden. Or from the park if that’s okay, even your neighbor’s flower is good enough. It’s fresh and you’ve picked it yourself so it’s worth their attention.
• Do something together. Take the car and go for a quick joyride like you did when you were younger, visit places from your younger years, share a place dear to your heart. Share a little something more about yourself. They will surely appreciate that more.

First off, let’s define burnout. Burnout is a psychological condition, much like depression. It is usually a result of prolonged stress which leads to diminishing interest in the things that you normally do as well as feeling exhausted all the time. However, if you are a caregiver, it’s quite hard to distinguish psychological exhaustion from real physical exhaustion and more often than not, you find yourself too busy to even care.

Being always on the go doesn’t help either, but be forewarned that no matter how you love what you are doing, working too hard will always lead to burnouts. Also, bear in mind that burnouts are quite a silent killer – that you are most likely to find yourself experiencing meltdowns before you even realize that you are indeed burned out.

Experts say that, of course, there are telltale signs of burnouts, you just have to spot it ahead of time so you’ll avoid meltdowns and be able to allow yourself a little breathing room. Below are some of the signs you might want to observe to know if you are indeed burnt out:

• Your drag yourself out of bed every single morning. Like you don’t want to ever leave your bed anymore and just sleep your day away. Most likely, you’ve burned out because you spent the night thinking of the things you need to do the next day, or you’ve reached your maximum physical energy limit and was too tired when you hit the bed last night! The only solution you have for this is to set a reasonable – but strict - time for your caregiving duties and like you would in an office, you leave your “work” behind as you prepare for sleep. Of course, there could be emergencies in the middle of the night but surely emergencies don’t happen every single night so you can still relax most nights right?
• You can’t keep track of your things. Your stuff is a mess and you can’t even remember where and when you last saw your mobile phone. This is because you run back and forth to do errands for your senior that you barely have time to recover. This, of course, causes you to burn out. To combat this, allow yourself 15 minutes every morning to prepare for the work ahead, like warming up before a workout routine.
• You unintentionally skip meals. Actually, it’s more like losing track of time? If you are too busy to even remember your last and next meal then you are definitely burning yourself out.
• You just can’t seem to finish a task. or you are longing for your tasks to end. or you’re always starting something new when you aren’t even finished with your other tasks. A lot is going on and it is definitely bad for you as the pressure of completing all your tasks in record time can be quite tiring.
• You experience foggy mind. A lot. This is actually a bad sign as it only means your mind cannot take it anymore and threatening to shut down.

The only thing that could save you from age discrimination and prevent abuse from happening to you is that if you arm yourself with proper knowledge and information about age discrimination. What pains me is when I hear stories from my senior friends telling me about how they lost their jobs or how they were not able to land a job they really wanted just because of their age. The company didn’t even consider the experience and expertise these old people have, they just flat out rejected them.

First off, there is a law that is designed to protect seniors against age discrimination in terms of employment. If you have time, read more about it here: Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This clearly outlines your rights as a senior in a workplace and what other things the law cannot protect you from. To be more specific, the law covers people 40 years old and above. Please take note of the age as there really is age discrimination within the 40s age group even if that number isn’t even too old to begin with.

In this post, I will try to summarize what was written on the ADEA but like I said, it is better to read the link if you have time just so if I missed a point and you found yourself in that certain situation, you would know what to do.

First off, your boss or the company cannot just fire you because of your age, nor refuse to hire you especially if you are qualified for the job. They also cannot limit your activities as an employee or separate you from the younger ones without a valid reason other than your age. Best of all, your wage shouldn’t be reduced just because you’re old. You should be paid accordingly.

When looking for a job, ADEA clearly stated that job ads shouldn’t mention age or age bracket as preference. As for employment agencies, they cannot refuse to refer you for employment or classify your application according to your age.

Now if you are a member of a labor organization, the org cannot just expel you or limit and classify your membership because of age. You shouldn’t be deprived of employment opportunities by your organization in any way in terms of age.

More importantly, if you found yourself filing charges against your employer or helping someone with their age-related cases against your employer, the employer as well as the company cannot harass you or discriminate you in any way.