seniors aging gracefully

When ever my mom wrote me a letter, she always ended it with this phrase, Take care of yourself. It has really taken me a life time to figure out how to take care of myself, to love myself. I have always admired people who know how to do this, wealthy folks often, who have the money to pamper themselves, indulge their whims, their desires, and yes their greed. One must wonder how many cars does one need or articles of clothing.

These days I take care of myself in various ways. One of the major ways is to cook for myself. Having raised 2 children while working, for years I viewed cooking as a burden, something I needed to do so the kids would not starve.

Now that I live alone I just love cooking. I spend hours watching cooking shows and have come to see cooking as a art form. It can allow you to be creative, experiment with spices, food combinations, and foreign ingredients. Part of the reason i focus so much on cooking is that I face a range of medical issues. In particular I am prone to inflammation which is the basis for a many medical conditions including autoimmune diseases and cancer.

What else does taking care of myself mean. I work on nurturing my social relationships. While I have let friendships that have become exhausting behind, I just don’t have the time to hear a friend complain about their life and their spouse. I believe it helps to have daily social connections. This may mean calling a friend everyday or just chit chatting with a clerk in a store.

Taking care of myself also means letting go of emotions and issues that have weighed me down in the part. Guilt/anger/resentment/envy all these are emotions that I struggle to let go of. I have discovered simple things that bring joy in my life, like taking care of my pets or being in nature.

dance like their’s no one watching