Grief
-
Stories of the Elderly: 12 Things to Avoid @ youtube.com
(06/26)
- The biggest threats to your health are hidden in your daily routine
- 12: Skipping you morning light exposure
- You need at least 30 minutes of morning light
- 11: Eating meals in complete silence and isolation
- Turn the TV on a channel you enjoy
- 10: Neglecting door and floor safety
- 9: Taking medications without a structured system (medication errors)
- 8: Keeping your home too warm
- The ideal sleeping temperature for adults is 65-68 deg F
- 7: Going days without touching or being touched
- Take dance or exercise classes
- Consider getting a pet
- 6: Ignoring your sense of purpose
- The content of the purpose matters far less than its consistency and depth
- 5: Living with chronic, low-grade dehydration
- Your thirst mechanism degrades significantly after age 60
- Drink 8-9 cups of fluid a day, prioritizing water
- Set a 90-minute timer as a hydration reminder
- Add a pinch of sodium with your water
- 4: Avoiding strength training because you think it is for young people
- 3: Letting you home become socially unwelcoming (social isolation)
- 2: Relying on emergency responses instead of prevention and detection systems
- Wear a medical alert device around your neck
- Set up daily check-in systems, apps like Snug or Life365
- Telling your doctor that you live alone
- 1: Abandoning your brain's need for novelty and learning
- You must deliberately introduce novelty into your daily routine
- Take a beginner's class in something you have never done before
-
Wise Elders - New Official Channel @ youtube.com
(07/26)
-
5 Things Seniors Must Rely On Instead of Family @ youtube.com
(07/26)
- Physical mobility
- Use it or lose it cycle happens much faster if you are older
- At 75, a week of inactivity can be the beginning of a slide towards
losing your independence
- Financial simplicity
- Financial complexity keeps you in low-grade stress
- As we age, our tolerance of complex mental clutter decreases
- You need to be the captain of you own financial ship
- Consistent health routine
- It is proactive
- A lack of routine makes you feel adrift during the day
- You are your own best caregiver
- Emotional resilience
- "This hurts, but I can handle it."
- If our emotional well-being depnds on everything staying the same,
we are setting ourselves up for constant pain.
- As our bodies get weaker, our emotional core must become stronger and
more flexible to compensate.
- Every night, she lights a single candle. Sometimes she just sits and
cries. Sometimes she remembers a funny story. Even in the dark, there is
still light.
- "This is sadness. I am feeling sad right now." I am the person experiencing
the feeling, not the feeling itself.
- Personal code of values
- This is the anchor for your soul.
- When you work, your job gives you a built-in role -- engineer, wife, etc.
- When you retire or a spouse is gone, the external guideposts are gone,
and it can leave you feeling lost.
- Who am I now?
- You need to be independent of other people's opinions and actions.
- You are living your life in a way that is true to YOU.
- Write down three things you believe in.
-
How to Be Happy Alone @ youtube.com
(07/26)
- There is a massive difference between being alone and being lonely
- You want purposeful solitude
- Embrace solitude as an opportunity
- In taking care of others, we forgot about taking care of ourselves
- Now we have the gift of time
- We feel guilty to just "be" with ourselves without doing something
- I don't have to hurry for anyone
- Don't feel guilty if you are not busy
- What do I actually want to do right now?
- Create meaning through personal rituals
- The old struture (alarm clock, rush hour) has vanished.
- Monday feels like Wednesday which feels like Saturday.
- Build your ritual
- Invest in life-long learning
- Learn for the joy of learning
- Find comfort in nature and movement
- The recliner can be a trap
- You need gentle consistent movement
- Step outside and look at nature
- Practice gratitude and positive self talk
- When you are alone, your thoughts are the loudest voice in the room.
- This voice can be negative chatter; it is the true source of loneliness.
- You need to rewire your brain to scan for what is RIGHT, instead of
what is wrong.
- Gratitude is the conscious act of focusing on what you still have.
- Positive self talk is the act of becoming your own best friend.
- If you are sad, you are allowed to be sad; your feelings are real
- Explore new ways to connect with the world
- I'm not a joiner.
- Connection is (1) feeling you are part of something bigger than yourself,
and (2) feeling useful
- This isn't about making friends; it is about finding purpose
- Volunteering is the fastest way to boost your own happiness
Bonnie's Links
created by Bonnie Lee Hill,
bonniehill@verizon.net
last modified on July 24, 2026
URL: http://www.bonniehill.net/pages/grief.html
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Margaret Elaine