{"id":59,"date":"2015-07-27T16:26:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T16:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/healthy-aging-magazine\/uncategorized\/entrepreneurship-2\/"},"modified":"2015-09-13T22:57:57","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T22:57:57","slug":"september-is-healthy-aging-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/fall-2015\/fall-2015-features\/september-is-healthy-aging-month\/","title":{"rendered":"September is Healthy Aging\u00ae Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>hink it\u2019s too late to \u201creinvent\u201d yourself? Think again. It\u2019s never too late to find a new career, a new sport, passion, or\u00a0hobby.<\/p>\n

September is Healthy Aging\u00ae Month, an annual health observance\u00a0designed to focus\u00a0national attention on the positive aspects of growing older, began over 20 years ago.\u00a0According to Carolyn Worthington, publisher of Healthy Aging\u00ae Magazine<\/em>, September is Healthy Aging\u00ae Month provides inspiration and practical ideas for adults, ages 50-plus, to improve their physical, mental, social and financial well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo: Kuznetcov Konstantin Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cUse September as the motivation to take stock of where you\u2019ve been, what you really would like to do,\u201d Worthington said.\u00a0\u201cMake your list based on your gut feelings and thoughts, no-holds-barred.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd try it! Who says you have to do something related to what you studied in school? Who says, you can\u2019t become an entrepreneur, start your own home business later in life, test your physical prowess or do something wildly different from anything you\u2019ve done before? Live somewhere else, somewhere exciting? Only that person you see in the mirror!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo: Elanathewise. Depositphotos<\/p><\/div>\n

To get you started on reinventing yourself, here are some ideas from the editors of Healthy Aging\u00ae Magazine<\/em>. Maybe they will help you think \u201coutside the cage\u201d or outside the\u00a0box:<\/p>\n

10 Tips for Reinventing Yourself during September Is Healthy Aging\u00ae Month:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Do not act your age<\/strong> or at least what you think your current age should act like. What was your best year so far? 28? 40? Now? Picture yourself at that age and be it. Some people may say this is denial, but we say it’s positive thinking and goes a long way toward feeling better about yourself. (Tip:\u00a0 Don\u2019t keep looking in the mirror, just FEEL\u00a0IT!)<\/li>\n
  2. Be positive in your conversations<\/strong> and actions every day. When you catch yourself complaining, check yourself right there and change the conversation to something positive. (Tip: Stop watching the police reports on the local\u00a0news.)<\/li>\n
  3. Ditch the downer friends.<\/strong> Have negative friends who complain all the time and constantly talk about how awful everything is? Drop them. As cruel as that may sound, distance yourself from people who do not have a positive outlook on life. They will only depress you and stop you from moving forward. Surround yourself with energetic, happy, positive people of all ages and you will be happier, too. (Tip: Smile often. It\u2019s contagious and wards off naysayers.)<\/li>\n
  4. Walk like a vibrant, healthy person.<\/strong> Come on. You can probably do it. Analyze your gait. Do you walk slowly because you have just become lazy or, perhaps, have a fear of falling? (Tip: Make a conscious effort to take big strides, walk with your heel first, and wear comfortable\u00a0shoes.)<\/li>\n
  5. Stand up straight!<\/strong> You can knock off the appearance of a few extra years with this trick your mother kept trying to tell you. Look at yourself in the mirror. Are you holding your stomach in, have your shoulders back, chin up? Check out how much better your neck looks! Fix your stance and practice it every day, all day until it is natural. You will look great and feel better. (Tip: Your waistline will look trimmer if you follow this advice.)<\/li>\n
  6. How\u2019s your smile?<\/strong> Research shows people who smile more often are happier. Your teeth are just as important to your good health as the rest of your body. Not only is it the first thing people notice, but good oral health is a gateway to your overall well-being. (Tip: Go to the dentist regularly and look into teeth whitening. Nothing says old more than yellowing\u00a0teeth!)<\/li>\n
  7. Lonely?<\/strong> Stop brooding and complaining about having no friends or family. Do something about it now. Right this minute. Pick up the phone, landline or cell and make a call to do one or more of the following: Volunteer your time; take a class; invite someone to meet for lunch, brunch, dinner; or coffee. (Tip: Volunteer at the local public school to stay in touch with younger people and to keep current on trends, take a computer class or a tutorial session at your cell phone store to keep up with technology, meet up with a new person every week for a lunch, dinner or coffee.)<\/li>\n
  8. Start walking<\/strong> not only for your health but to see the neighbors. Have a dog? You\u2019ll be amazed how the dog can be a conversation starter. (Tip: If you don\u2019t have time for a dog, go to your local animal shelter and volunteer. You will be thrilled by the puppy\u00a0love!)<\/li>\n
  9. Get a physical<\/strong>. Make this month the time to set up your annual physical and other health screenings. Go to the appointments and then, hopefully, you can stop worrying about ailments for a while. (Tip: For a list of recommended annual health screenings, a great resource is the\u00a0My Health Finder<\/a>\u00a0and here\u2019s what Medicare Covers<\/a>.)<\/li>\n
  10. Find your inner artist.<\/strong> Who says taking music lessons is for young school children? You may have an artist lurking inside you just waiting to be tapped.\u00a0 Have you always wanted to play the piano, violin or tuba? Have you ever wondered if you could paint a portrait or scenic in oil? What about working in wood? (Tip: Sign up now for fall art or music classes and discover your inner artist!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Think it\u2019s too late to \u201creinvent\u201d yourself? Think again. Tips to help you redefine yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-fall-2015-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2315,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/2315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}