4 Simple Truths About Aging
By Angie McAllister
“Aging is part of what makes us human. To live is to age. To live long is to age much. It is in our nature to grow old.”- Dr. Bill Thomas
In his new book “Aging Magnificently” Dr. Bill Thomas speaks about 4 simple truths of aging that are important to every single one of us as we look towards our future. During his summer session “ Playing To Win: A Global Symposium on Aging Magnificently” he will expand on these four truths and give practical ways to implement them.
- Ageism is a bigger problem than aging. We need to equip ourselves with as much understanding and knowledge of ageism as humanly possible. That knowledge will help us gain a better perspective of how ageism impacts our daily lives and our ongoing search for greater well-being.
- To age magnificently we must understand aging as a process of growth and development. We all want to age magnificently. It’s that simple. However, to do so means we need to understand common myths about aging as well as practical approaches to understanding developmental aging.
- We are meant to explore “life beyond adulthood.” Elderhood is a life phase with rich potential. All too often, our culture has chosen to give most of its resources to Adulthood, overlooking the importance of development into Elderhood. If we view life as a great wheel with stops along the way for each of life’s phases, we can get a better picture of how everything is relative. Each phase impacts the next phase and life continues in this way. Those phases are Childhood, Adulthood and Elderhood. By learning to rebalance these three phases, we can gain a healthier life cycle.
- Greater strength, purpose and belonging builds resilience and resilience leads to greater strength, purpose and belonging. By understanding that our reserve capacity changes as we age, we can understand ways to increase reserve capacity to become more resilient. Strength is really about our ability to live the life we want, at any age. Common sense items like posture, balance, grip strength and our overall stamina greatly impact our ability to live the way we want. As we age, we often begin to look towards our purpose and start to investigate what is most important to us. As The Eden Alternative has taught us for years, loneliness is a pain we feel when we have a loss of true companionship in our lives. Likewise belonging is a comfort that we feel when are intentional about the community we are part of. It’s moving from a culture that magnifies “me” to a culture that prioritizes “we”.
Our summer session with Dr. Thomas will help you identify an evidence-based approach to planning for greater health and well-being. Each session will be an opportunity to connect with him in a way that will help you understand not only the impact of cultural ageism all around you but also steps you can take to ensure you age in the most magnificent way possible!
“ Playing To Win: A Global Symposium on Aging Magnificently” is a 10 week session sponsored by Lifespark and The Eden Alternative. The weekly online sessions will be recorded and give participants the opportunity to impact one of four global non-profit organizations who could possibly win funding from your registration fees. All participants receive Dr. Thomas’ four new books in eBook form free of charge as well as the opportunity to get up to 10 NAB credits for participation.
“Aging is a team sport and the best way to win is to play with a team you love, and that loves you.” – Dr. Bill Thomas
