“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ~ Maya Angelou

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time considering the practice of healthy aging. Maybe it’s that I seem to be having more conversations about aches and pains and creaky joints along with the requisite jokes about feeling and looking old. Maybe it’s that my parents now struggle with limited mobility. Maybe it’s that my baby just turned 18 and I’m now the parent of adult children. Maybe it’s that as an almost empty nester, I find myself reflecting and considering what my next life phase can and will look like. In any case, aging (and doing it well) has been on my mind.

According to the World Health Organization, “healthy ageing is about creating the environments and opportunities that enable people to be and do what they value throughout their lives”.

Sounds simple. But…simple isn’t always easy.

Take sourdough bread for example. It’s made from 3 ingredients - flour, water, salt. Simple. Although I wouldn’t say the process of turning those ingredients into bread is easy. It takes time, commitment, attention, practice.

So how do we go about creating the conditions to facilitate this process of healthy aging?

The easy option would be to leave it up to chance and hope for the best. After all, aging is a natural process that every living thing goes through. We’re all getting older. Why not just accept the inevitable decline and get on with it?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t accept that. I’m far too stubborn to give in…just ask my family! Besides, I’ve seen evidence of awesome aging so I know what’s possible.

About 10 years ago, I participated in my first (and only so far)international master’s swim meet. Just to be clear, master’s swimming doesn’t have anything to do with having mastered the sport, it’s a club that provides organized swim workouts for people 18 and over. Anyone can join and there’s often a wide range of experience. So I arrived at the pool feeling a bit intimidated and super nervous. As I scoped out the pool deck and flipped through the heat sheet, I was surprised by the fact that I was one of the youngest participants with most swimmers being 10, 20, even 40 years my senior. I’d always admired people who exemplified aging well but these people were amazing! The coolest event to watch was a 200-meter breaststroke race by two 87-year-old swimmers. They were strong, fit, active, …all the things I want to be when I grow up. Sure, maybe some were blessed with “good genes” but genetics doesn’t allow you to race a 400-meter freestyle at the age of 79; that’s a choice.

It seems simple - eat well, move more, do all the “healthy” things - but it’s not easy. True, the older we get, the more effort it takes just to maintain our level of fitness let alone improve it. But something we may not have considered is the impact of the way we talk about it and how that often changes our attitude and experience.

Words matter.

The words we speak to others and the ones we speak to ourselves. Chances are many of the words that we currently use to speak about aging carry a negative connotation. What if instead of a cross to bear, we could see getting older as a gift to cultivate? What might change? What are the possibilities?

Now, we can only change something that we’re aware of so my challenge to you is to pay attention: to the words you think, speak, hear, and read about aging. That’s all, just tune in.

Simple, yes…but not easy.