24 Comments

In my quest to age well, I plan to follow the tips and ignore many of the myths about aging—no matter what the calendar says!

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Love this Janice… you are absolutely right! Live by our inside ages I say! Thanks for clarifying the myths and bad advice. We go after what we want and need, nothing holds us back, girl! Well done and inspiring! 👍💛🫶😘

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Myths - stories made up to explain what is unexplainable. I don't believe it's possible to live beyond the years we are living, it doesn't sound plausable nor do I care to find out what that might feel like.

I believe it is possible to live fully all our years so that it's not how many years in our lives but how much life in our years Not sure who said that originally, but it makes sense to me and the way that I am living. The calendar is pages of days, months and years and I am taking them one at a time, making the most of each one that I can, until I no longer can, and then we'll deal with that, later.

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Hi Gary, That sounds like a wise approach. Doing what we can do - each day.

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Love this. I’m of the mind that age is mostly about mindset. Believe it or not, I have a couple of mountain biking buddies who are still riding in their late 70s. I feel like they’re the model to follow!

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Hi Kristi , I do agree with you about age and mindset - I've read that a positive attitude is one of the best predictor of a person's ability to age well.

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You are a fabulous model of aging youthfully. Xx

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Ah Cali, Thank you so much. Some days are more of a struggle than others that's for sure.

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Thanks so much Janice. I have a birthday coming up and have suggested to my family that the date can actually now be ignored and removed from their calendars. I've decided to just stay where I am - you're right it IS just a number :-)

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Thanks, Janice! I disagree with those myths as well, thanks for pointing them out. You are an inspiration!

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Thanks for listing those myths. I needed to be reminded of them.

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Hi Carol, They can sure can give us false information if we let them .

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Hi Janice, great article, my stuck in my head number is 62, I'm following your lead. And by the way Pickleball didn't work for me either, but more weightlifting, swimming, and hiking has produced wonderful results, plus stretching twice daily.

I had to laugh when I read where you learned how to enlarge font; mine was learning how to move objects forward and back in Canva. It seems everyone but me knew how to do it!! Haha, something new daily!

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Hi Patti, I'm pleasantly surprised how much better my knees are by just adding the stretch. That's a good idea . . . maybe I'll include another round of stretching.

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Exercise and eat well. Think deeply. Embrace the lifestyle.

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Hi Dean, Sounds like a wise plan to me!

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I always take something away from your posts, Janice. This stood out today "Engage in something that matters to you and that you care passionately about." My writing for Substack makes me feel younger! In fact, I don't want my subscribers to know my actual age. It would possibly prejudice them - and certainly shock them!

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Hi Sharon, That's so important - the writing makes you feel younger and I suspect keeps you going. Take care!

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Those myths weren't written by someone old.

Several years ago, I fell down the stairs in my apartment building. The stairs were in an awful state of disrepair. My doctor recommended physical therapy. My doctor still recommends physical training for several reasons. 1. I'm a fall risk and exercise helps with balance. 2. I'm trying to lose weight. I sat in a hospital for months with my ex husband, now deceased, when he had cancer. I gained way too many pounds from not exercising.

My mom had dementia. She was one of the most healthy, active people I have ever known. She could do the nyt crossword in ink. No one else in my family has ever had dementia or alzheimers.

I could debunk more and more, but I'm doing this on my phone and that sucks. Because of my fall, I can't do some of the things I used to. But I can find chair exercises on YouTube that I am capable of doing.

I have been married (and divorced) 4 times, so I'm not in any hurry to get in another relationship, but I do miss the companionship. Not much else. But mostly, I enjoy being alone and doing what I want to do. It's liberating.

My daughters were both nurses, and when I got my last divorce, they told me that the fastest rising number of stds was in the over 55 age group. That doesn't really make me want to start that type of relationship. How about you?

🤣

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Hi Teresa, Thanks for all the debunking!!! I have no desire to have another relationship, but I sure would love to have the one I had - before dementia that is.

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This is awesome Janice! Two of my favorite writers in one article, you and CK Steefel. I enjoyed her essay about her beautiful Mom too. I also love that you talked about the myths of aging, it's very important. I think we often, accidentally, buy fully into these stories but we don't need to so I appreciate the reminder.

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Hi Donna, Well, thank you! I am honored to be included in anything with CK Steefel. She is great!! I agree, we do get sucked into the myths - and I believed them until I figured out they were wrong.

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You are an inspiring role model Janice x

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Hi, Lee, Thank you so much. I hate to see people miss out on life because they believed something that wasn't true for them.

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