As you gaze into the crystal ball what do you see in the future and what do you hope to see? We ask ourselves these questions throughout our lives beginning in those energetic, anxious young years when we could hardly wait to become adults. For some, in those formative years, parents or guardians managed the future, others had the resources and maturity to think about managing their own future but, by and large, as boomers we rode the tide of our new independence with minimal planning for tomorrow.
What a ride it's been! Ours is a generation filled with enjoyment, creativity, shared tragedy, amazing invention, and new definitions. Ours is a journey of accelerating change. We broke rules and made new ones and, with the incidental power of our generational numbers, the lives we've led and decisions we've made as individuals have transformed the culture of America. Together we've aged into a time of unprecedented resources and technology to guide us through a world of higher complexity and steeper challenge. Now we face the future we've in many ways created; created, yes, but planned for? Well, maybe not.
It's human nature to avoid planning for undesirable events like growing old but it's our human condition to be vulnerable to them. In today's world of information we know there are strong probabilities that, as we age, we'll encounter some undesirable circumstances. You won't, you may reflexively think, but yes, probably others will. In fact, all we have to do today is look around at national and personal catastrophies to know that random undesirable events lurk. And happen. Perhaps you've already met with them. How you react to your experience or the known probability and the obvious uncertainty around us determines the likelihood that you'll engage in solid planning for tomorrow.
We have more access to information and knowledge than any generation before us. We have ample free tools to help us plan the future. Yet this magical life full of magical tools in America can lure us into complacency or give us grounds for wishful thinking about the the years ahead. Success and investments that may buoy us today can act as hindrances to preparation and needed change as we age. Many of us will content ourselves with gazing into the crystal ball for our future rather than objectively evaluating it and taking control. Crystal ball thinking is easy but it shatters when something happens that we didn't anticipate.
Why did the fortune teller close shop? Answer: Because she couldn't see a future in it. This chuckle highlights the reflex we experience when we look but cannot see our own future....some of us feel vulnerable, fallible, paralyzed by 'what if's' and fall back into the comfort of denial. We close shop and stop planning for tomorrow. Planning can't prevent all undesirable events from touching our lives but it can put us in a stronger position to shorten and ease a recovery or smooth the journey through. Before we can manage our future we need to manage our crystal ball thinking and take steps to safeguard tomorrow!
Where do we start planning for the future? If you have financial resources and flexibility there are many websites and articles with advice on estate planning and financial investments. Do it yourself or hire a professional but don't wait. Set a timeline to help you get it done. If you don't have significant financial resources then turn to other kinds of important preparations that will help you in days to come. Start with these three essentials:
1) Get your advance directive, living will, POLST form, and Power of Attorney for Healthcare and Finances in order. If you have property or want to direct what happens to your email or online assets write your will. The first step in controlling your destiny and facing your future is to tell others what you'd like to have done if and when something happens to you. That's what these papers do. Ask a lawyer to make these for you, use willmaker software or, if money is a challenge, talk to your local senior center. They may know about free legal help or have free forms to create these important documents. Talk to your doctor about a POLST form. It tells emergency responders how to react if you're in crisis at home. Don't wait any longer. Think about tomorrow today and make this happen.
2) Do 20 minutes a day of exercise. Run, swim, play golf, climb stairs- it doesn't matter as long as it's exercise. Go to an athletic club or the Y, walk around the block, do yoga, dance at home to the radio. There are so many ways to get this done and so much research that tells us the huge benefit we derive for our aging bodies and minds with this small investment of time. Work it into your daily schedule and have a good time with these 20 minutes. You don't need to do the same exercise every day.
3) Build a preparedness kit. I use a large shopping bag. Some people use a portable suitcase. Fill it with things you'd need to survive 3 days without services. That may be medicine, batteries, money, food, pet food, first aid, and so forth. Keep medicine, foods and pet foods up to date in your kit by checking it with regular frequency.
When you accomplish 1, 2, and 3, add another step from the list below. Do your planning gradually, one step at a time. If you incorporate several of these ideas you'll find that you've built a strong foundation for aging.
4)Design a plan to maintain your mind and memory. Do it through focus on diet, regular exercise (step 2), and learning (taking an interest in it too!) something new everyday.
5) Weatherize yourself. Aging effects the ability of our bodies to adjust to sudden temperature changes and may increase our vulnerability during extreme weather. Curiously, as our nation enters a time of more extreme weather most older Americans are living in nature's danger locations. Find out what weather to expect in your area and take steps to prepare. Do you have what you need during a heatwave ? Do you have shelter from the storm or a list of nearby emergency shelters? If you had to evacuate how would you leave? Answer these and other questions now to increase your chance of survival or ease your experience in extreme weather. Don't have any good answers to these questions? Call or google your local emergency management office and ask them for advice.
6) Strengthen your social network. Meet your neighbors, connect with family more often, join others for dinner, go to a meetup, join Facebook, attend a class, there are so many ways to enhance your social life today! Social interactions and social support is fundamental in staying informed about our world and local community and can become even stronger support when we need help. Social support helps prevent, live with or overcome mental and physical illness. It's essential. Give it your focus today.
7) Downsize. "You can't take it with you" is a popular phrase describing the reality as we age. Ask yourself "when was the last time I used it?" to establish criteria for keeping or letting go of things. You may feel better when you lighten your load. When and if you move to a smaller living space you'll save yourself alot of moving time too! Start in a single room-maybe even a single corner of that room-and downsize one box, one shelf at a time.
8) Evaluate your living situation. You may have adjusted the way you lived to accommodate children in your younger life. In a similar way we need to evaluate our house or apartment with awareness that we're aging. Would better access to the house itself or to services help us adjust to potential changes? Are we safe where we are and would we feel that way if we became more vulnerable? Is it time to consider community living? These are hard but very important decisions to make. Making them while we're still young enough to rebuild our lives somewhere else gives us more strength and security in years to come.
Look into the crystal ball and we see the possibility of many different futures. One will be our own. Be kind to your tomorrow. Take action today to strengthen your aging. Establish readiness for the days to come.
