I once asked my dad what it was like to get older.  He said “I can still do many of the things I used to do like working hard, but when I was younger I could take a shower and rest for an hour and then go out for some fun.  Now it takes me about two weeks to recover from the same work.”

I have read previous blogs about when we consider ourselves older or aged.  The question came to mind how we prepare for the aging process.  Often in our lives, we are so busy handling the day to day operations, we rarely sit back and think about what we will do when we grow older.  What type of activities will I plan to do?  What type of house will I live in?  When will I retire?

Quo vadisI find that it is common to plan for things such as retirement from a financial support perspective.  We even prepare for our “final days” such as securing retirement homes, funeral plans, burial plots, and advanced directives.  However, how often do we think about planning moderate exercise routines, joining new social groups, downsizing the square footage of our yards and homes to match our physical abilities?  When and how will we decide we should no longer drive or give up certain foods?

I have several friends who have recently retired and it is interesting to see how different people handle retirement.  Some have a solid plan of traveling, visiting relatives, watching grandchildren.  Often, in these individuals, I have seen positive acceptance of aging.  In others, I have witnessed they did not have a plan after retirement.  They knew only that they were ready to stop working.  In these cases, I have witnessed depression, lack of sleep, marriage trouble and disagreement.  I cannot scientifically state that there is a large disparity between having a plan for our aging process or not, but it seems that having a plan promotes positive outlook for living well into your aged years.  What are your thoughts?

Our Guest Blogger this week is Mark Scott, M.B.A., C.P.M., Director, Texas AHEC East-Piney Woods Region.

Join us for a real-time discussion about the rather grave question raised by this essay on Tuesday from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag.