The Best of The Web for Every Pillar
Let's take a look around the worldwide web
Let’s take a cruise around what people are saying about retirement and aging from the perspective of Purpose, Wellness, Financial, Connections and FUN!
Purpose
Purpose is a great concept. We all understand that, if we have a reason to put our feet on the floor in the morning and we’re living a life that is congruent with our values, that’s gonna help with longevity. But if you’re not lucky enough to innately know what your purpose is, how do you find it? Greater Good Magazine out of UC Berkeley has 4 exercises you can do to help you suss out your purpose, or at least give you some leads. I particularly like the “magic wand” exercise.
Wellness
The Alzheimer’s Association had an international conference the first week in August. You may have seen some increased press around some of the discussions. The biggest takeaway for me was that, while the drugs that target amaloyds or “tangles” are meeting with limited success, studies say there are other ways to intervene to slow the progression of the disease. This article from NBC News talks about a few of the findings. First, some are starting to call Alzheimer’s “Type 3 diabetes” and some diabetes drugs show some promise. That’s exciting because there are limited side effects of the drugs. Want something with pretty much no side effects? New studies are confirming that the same things that help diabetes may help slow Alzheimer’s, like eating lots of veggies and, especially, working up a sweat with aerobic exercise.
Financial
This is an interesting podcast with a doctor that works with Hospice patients. In it, he talks about time having value and trading that off with monetary value. My favorite part is when he talks about money being a tool to help you “fill your time slots” with intention. In other words, you only have so many time slots in your life. If you spend them just trying to make money, you lose them. If you spend them intentionally living your life with purpose, identity and connection (his three pillars of a good life) money is just a means to that end to be balanced with those outcomes.
Connections
We’re going back to Greater Good Magazine from UC Berkeley for this one. I love the section about neurological changes in your brain as you age and how they impact your need for connections. “As we grow older, what’s lost in quick recall and short-term memory is balanced by an ability to reflect and to hold multiple perspectives, Cozolino argues. Neurological changes in the aging brain may contribute to emotional regulation and an increased ability to relate compassionately to others. That’s partly because the effects of fear and anxiety on the brain tend to lessen as people grow older, enabling them to see social situations with less defensiveness and more clarity, the author says.” Wow, so we’re biologically wired to need connections more as we age and be better at them, but we retire and tend to lose those connections. Hmmm…
FUN!
OK. Enough of all of the education on retirement and aging! You just want to have some FUN this weekend. I’ve got you covered. Here are some last minute, inexpensive vacation ideas for every quarter of the country. Enjoy!
Have an awesome weekend whatever you decide to do! See you next Friday!