Reflections on aging gracefully

By Toni Ameslav, staff social worker at The Center for Active Living

We’ve all heard the phrase “aging gracefully.” You probably know people you believe are aging gracefully and others who are not. You may not be able to define it, but you know it when you see it. I’m not going to define graceful aging in this article but want to offer a few ways we can create graceful aging for ourselves.

There are some concrete ways in which we can age gracefully while reducing health risks. One is trying to eat a healthy diet and taking pleasure in eating with others. Others are exercising in whatever ways we are able, getting adequate sleep, managing stress, creating and maintaining social connections with others and finding ways to engage in lifelong learning, such as with a book in our own living room or in a class or group setting.

I don’t have to convince you that aging is not easy, especially in a youth-obsessed culture like ours that values shiny hair, smooth skin and the ability to run a marathon in under three hours. All of us encounter age-related changes, both physical and mental, throughout life and especially in our older years. Yet the extent and rate of age-related changes vary enormously among individuals, and variation between individuals actually increases with age.

Celebrating our differences and accepting how we are different from each other are key to graceful aging. So are acceptance of change and loss. The deaths of good friends and loved ones are huge losses. No longer being able to drive, live independently or thread a needle because of poor vision are also significant. Accepting these losses requires time, patience and self-care.

To age gracefully is to create meaning in your life, however you choose to do so.