Aging is a natural process that occurs for everyone, regardless of how you live your life. However we should consider what we can do to fight the clock and continue to make ourselves feel younger longer. A great book with some of these concepts is "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge. This book starts to get you thinking about how your habits today are going to affect you 10 or 20 years down the road. Our bodies are a tool and a gift and, besides some surgical options, you only get one; so it is important to take care of the body you have so that it can keep working for you. Being younger next year also means taking care of all aspects of ourselves including mental/psychological, spiritual, social, etc. The balance we seek includes enjoying ourselves in the moment while making sure we can do it for an extended period of time.
One of the concepts this book introduces is the trick of kedging - when you are on a boat and throw out your anchor to pull the boat toward it. The idea is to pick a goal or hobby, something fun and physically challenging, for yourself to work toward so that you do not always have to rely purely on grit and motivation (since both are fleeting.)
We have probably heard or tried most of the habits to "stay younger," so now is the time for consistency and action. If you stay active, it will be longer until you cannot be active. If you eat well, you may be able to stave off gaining weight, illness or even potentially disease. Using your brain and body and constantly learning new things is the overarching idea of how to stay young and active. This gives us a sense of autonomy and empowerment, realizing we have some influence over our bodies and our futures. Even if some things are out of your control, there is almost always something you can do to ease the severity of your situation and help yourself in the long run; even if it is just maintaining your attitude and outlook. And remember that it is often easier to keep going than it is to stop and try to work your way back. So ask yourself - what am I doing to be younger next year?
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