Wrinkles Attitude And Aging
Thankfully, researchers are finally beginning to understand and accept the link between mind and body. Even though the physiological make up of emotions themselves have not yet been identified, some researchers suspect that a small portion of the brain called the insular cortex may be the key.
The insular cortex regulates the autonomic nervous system which controls the automatic functions of our body such as breathing heartbeat and blood pressure. It also plays a role in higher brain functions and helps to process anger, fear, joy, happiness and sexual arousal.
Laboratory experiments with animals indicate that when the insular cortex is stimulated for long periods of time, causes a kind of damage to the heart muscle that is similar to sudden cardiac death. Other experiments with people who have epilepsy who were undergoing brain surgery that exposed the insular cortex found that stimulating the area with mild electrical pulses changed the person’s heart rate and blood pressure.
Is it any wonder, therefore, that years of sorrow, anger and other negative emotions may cause a malfunction of the insular cortex? The research continues.
Whatever happens in that six inches between your ears, one thing is certain. Optimism, laughter, love and other positive emotions can counteract many harmful effects at any age, even in your sixties, seventies, eighties and beyond!
A happy outlook appears to trigger the release of endorphins. Endorphins relax the cardiovascular system and cytokines which alert the immune system to pay attention in detecting abnormalities like cancer cells.
The University of California, Riverside began a research project in 1921 whereby they followed the aging process of over 1,500 people who were preteens when the study began. The researchers concluded that among those subjects, such positive attributes as dependability, trust, agreeableness and open-mindedness were associated with a two to four year increase in life expectancy.
Let’s explore some tips for developing a better outlook on your world.
Listen carefully to yourself. If you have put yourself down since childhood, over a lifetime negative subliminal message can take their toll by turning you into a pessimist. Spend one week writing down the phrases you use in your “self talk.” Chances are you will find that you repeat a dozen or so phrases over and over again that reinforce that negative image. If you know about them, you can change them.
If an issue is not resolved it will continue to plague you and you will relive the negative emotions tied to that issue over and over again. Negative emotions can present themselves in a physical manner with scrunched faces and wrinkled eyes and this may call for wrinkle treatment. Write yourself a letter spending about 20 minutes a day for four days and write about what you feel. Forget grammar, punctuation and so on. No one else will see this but you and you can throw it away when finished. Once you begin to write, don’t stop until the time is up. This exercise will help you organize your thoughts and get them out of your system. By the end of the four days most people feel much better about themselves.
Seek out new challenges and opportunities. Always have something that is a goal just over the horizon. When you begin to close the gap and reach that goal, set another and another. Keep yourself consistently moving ahead.
Try and do one new thing every week or month. Visit a museum, go to the zoo, go to a book signing or lecture. The goal here is to eliminate monotony which is a sure killer of optimism.
Look for a new marvel of nature each day. Discover an abundance of happiness. Spoil your pet or if you don’t have one, visit the human society and adopt one. Learn to laugh at yourself. Allow yourself to experience grief but don’t let it control you.
Find someone who is worse off than you and lend a hand. Volunteer at a hospital, visit a nursery or a shelter.
In a preliminary study, researchers at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, California, a biomedical research center that examines mind-body connections, asked 30 men and women to think for five minutes of either a compassionate moment in their lives or a time when they were upset or angry. “We found that simply recalling one episode of anger depresses the immune system for up to seven hours – but one episode of feeling compassion or caring enhances the immune system for about the same amount of time,” says Jerry Kaiser, the Institute’s director of health services.
Armed with that information, stop for a moment and think about how often you feel either end of that emotional spectrum. Makes you think a bit deeper about how we have the power to actually destroy ourselves through our emotions, doesn’t it?
Here are a few quick tips for increasing joy, hope and optimism that will work no matter what your age:
Make a list of at least 50 great things that happen to you every day.
Laugh a lot. You’ll heal your body and your mind.
Discover a new challenge each month.
Try meditating for just five minutes each day.
Sex After 50 – Ha! How many of you jumped ahead to this section? It’s not surprising if you did and hopefully we can lend some positive reinforcement to certain cultural myths.
The importance of physical intimacy actually depends on the couple. An alarming number of men used to give up on sex after 60 and many women used to feel that their six life ended with menopause. Thankfully, that is no longer the case.
Sex at middle age can actually become better and more satisfying than ever before. Maturity gives a couple more experience in lovemaking. The children are usually grown and left home. The pressures of building a career and day to day life are usually less stressful than in younger years.
Our society places a disproportionate emphasis on youth, thus reinforcing the myth that older people have no sexual interest. People have a natural tendency to believe what society dictates and eventually just give up on sex after reaching middle age.
There are physiological changes that affect normal sexual function. Unfortunately people have taken these changes to mean that sexual function is over for them which needn’t be the case at all.
Many men age 60 or over worry when they no longer have a spontaneous erection with visual stimulation. This doesn’t mean that sexual function is over, but only means that they now require more direct stimulation. Sadly, many men will avoid intercourse until they have a spontaneous erection in fear that their wives will think they have a sexual problem.
As men get older they need longer periods of time between ejaculations and over 60 may require a full day or even several between ejaculations. This does not mean that he cannot enjoy intercourse and lovemaking in between.
Another serious problem exists where partners believe that climaxes are absolutely necessary. The male believes that he must have one and his female partner believes that if he does not he no longer finds her attractive.
Lack of lubrication is a problem for older women and impotence a problem for men. These are challenges that can be treated and should be discussed with your physician.
There are many factors that enter the equation when facing sexual problems. Medications, alcohol and major illness may be causing a lack of sexual desire. Again, all are potentially treatable and should be taken to your physician.
The most important tool any couple can put to use in their sexual relationship is the brain. Use it wisely and there is no reason why people over 50, 60, 70 and over should not have a healthy sexual relationship with their partner.
Retirement – The absolute worst problem people face regarding retirement is waiting too long to plan for it. Waiting until you are 60 will have horrendous repercussions on the quality of life for your remaining years.
It’s almost like the ostrich effect. If you place your head in the sand you believe the problem will go away. Well, we’ve got news for you. . .it won’t. And the longer you wait before facing the problem the tougher it’s going to get.
If you have already planned for your retirement you needn’t read these last few pages. However, if you are one of millions of Americans who have suddenly awakened to the fact that time is slipping away and your retirement is right around the corner. . .take heed because we are going to cover a few last minute strategies to help you prepare.
We can’t give you a quick fix for years and years of neglect, but we can explore some things you can do now that will help under funded 50 odd year olds prepare for a somewhat comfortable retirement.
First thing is to examine the numbers to find out just how large a shortfall you will experience. Here are two free online calculators you can use to accomplish this:
American Savings Education Council’s Ballpark Estimate
http://www.asec.org/ballpark/index.htm
Smart Money’s Retirement Worksheet
http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/index.cfm
Either keep or begin saving. If you don’t already know, find out what the maximum amount you are allowed to contribute to your company sponsored retirement plan, then increase your contribution. This is especially beneficial if your employer matches your contributions.
The maximum 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan contribution allowed in 2002 was only $11,000 with allowable increases in 2005 of $14,000 and $15,000 in 2006.
If you are age 50 or older you can contribute an additional amount of $4,000 in 2005 and $5,000 in 2006.
If you are self-employed you can contribute as much as $40,000 a year to a qualified retirement plan account and since the contribution is tax-deductible, the government actually subsidizes about one-third or more dependent upon your tax bracket.
Cut down large expenditures. Clothing, restaurant meals, fancy vacations and other non-essentials can easily save some people as much as $1,000 a month. If that $1,000 is invested at 8% per year at the end of 10 years it will have reached a nice nest egg of $185,000.
That still won’t be enough for a “comfortable” retirement.
If you have children in college have them begin to shoulder some of the expense. If they have not yet begun college, have them attend a local school and live at home for two years. After than they can transfer to a private university and take out student loans to pay for it. This alone can save you over $100,000 per child over four years.
Downsize your family home. Chances are, if you have lived in your home for more than five years or so, you have substantial equity. Selling that home and moving to something smaller will release that equity that could be used to help finance your retirement. Using the same figure of 8%, if you realize $150,000 in equity invested over ten years you’ll end up with $333,000.
Whatever you do, create a diversified portfolio and don’t chase rainbows! The time for conservative investment is now. An allocation for someone who is close to retirement is 70% stocks for future growth and 30% bonds for current stability. Divide the stock portion between large, mid and small cap funds.
It’s not too late to start!