There are books you SHOULD read and there are books you MUST read if you are over age 40, such as Counter Clockwise: A Proven Way to Think Yourself Younger and Healthier by Ellen J. Langer This book will change the way you think about aging in general and your own aging process in particular. You don’t need to read the entire book –just Chapter 9, “Mindful Aging”. It supports everything I have been preaching and teaching for years, except that the author supports her position with science. My take on aging has been based on personal experience, observation, intuition, and a healthy dose of common sense.
Chapter 9 of this book will be extremely helpful if you have an open mind and are not already mired in the traditional senior culture lifestyle, and you are happy where you are and don’t want anything or anyone to upset your apple cart.
The reality is that stereotypes, consensus thinking, traditions and just plain blindness (stupidity?) have often played a devastating role in the lives of older individuals. If you are serious about not succumbing to cultural norms and all the debilitating nonsense that controls, manages or influences the lives of old people, this chapter will motivate you to think about and take charge of your aging process to a degree you perhaps did not think possible. There are different editions of the book. The edition I have is 2010.
If you are older and family members are trying to shove you (lovingly, of course) down traditional paths and you are feeling uncomfortable about their “help” you would be wise to ask them to read Chapter 9. If they are not stuck in their own uninformed beliefs about aging, their new understanding (after reading the chapter) could determine not only your future but theirs as well. Decline that can be prevented with independent thinking and wise lifestyle choices is a gift and a blessing for a family.
Get Counter Clockwise: A Proven Way to Think Yourself Younger and Healthier from Amazon. While on Amazon, get a copy of my latest effort, The Expert’s Guide To Strut Your Stuff! After reading Chapter 9 of Counter Clockwise as well as my book, (which is short and to the point) you will have information and motivation you need to outsmart not only Mother Time, but outdated, mindless, horse and buggy traditions that can turn older people into helpless morons. Take charge of your life. You get just one chance. Don’t blow it.
Another myth-busting book is Why Survive? Being Old in America by Robert N. Butler, M.D. It’s almost 500 pages and it’s expensive but if you are serious about learning about aging myths in our society it’s well worth having as a reference.
Leave a Reply