In your twenties, you might feel as though you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You’d be right of course, even in your late twenties, you are still young. You’re yet to experience any signs of age, your body is still youthful, and you feel alert and filled with energy. You’ve still got years and years left to work. You might be able to eat the world without gaining a pound.
Then, quite suddenly and out of nowhere, the signs of ageing start to show. It’s quite common to get greyer in your thirties. Cellulite, stretch marks, and varicose veins begin to creep up on you. You can no longer stay out all night and get up for work the next morning without feeling worse for wear. You might suddenly find that you can’t even look at a piece of cake without putting on weight. Ageing is a gradual process, but that process often starts much earlier than you’d like it too.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you are old. You’re not, you’ve still got a long time to go, and there’s no reason why you can’t live a long and healthy life. But, it is a gentle reminder that time passes quickly and that if you want to be able to enjoy your old age and your retirement, it’s never too early to start thinking about it.
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Give Your Mind a Workout
Most of us worry about how we look. We
diet and exercise, and stress about how we look in a bikini on the beach. We worry about how our bodies will age and hope never to lose our looks. But, we don’t worry about our minds, and how they might age.
But, they do. Your brain ages just like your body. The things that seem easy now might not always. You might start to forget things, or struggle to think clearly. This can hinder your happiness in old age even more than the physical signs of ageing.
When we’re kids, we’re always learning. Every day we learn something new to the point that our minds can sometimes feel tired and overwhelmed. Then, we start work, we settle into our adult lives, and we stop using our brains so much. We don’t need to think. We just go through the motions. Doing this for too long can lead to premature ageing of the mind, just like not exercising could lead to your body ageing before it’s time.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to give your brain a workout. Reading, doing
puzzles,
learning languages and even going to new places and having new experiences. Anything that is out of the ordinary that gives you something to think about is a
good exercise for your mind and can help it to stay young.
Watch Your Diet
When we’re in our twenties, and we feel as though we can eat anything without worry, we often do. Older friends and family members might warn you that it will all catch up with you one day and you won’t believe them. But, it will.
It might not catch up with your hips or belly in the form of weight gain, but that doesn’t mean that a
fatty diet isn’t clogging your arteries, or that too much sugar isn’t affecting your teeth and vital organs. You might be able to drink everyone under the table without getting a hangover, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not killing your brain cells.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t indulge in treats. There’s no point in living a long life if you don’t allow yourself to enjoy it. The key to all things is balance. Drink water, as well as other drinks. Eat fruit and vegetables, and limit your treats.
Maintain Your Friendships
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that living in a
nursing home when you are older can keep your mind young, help to prevent depression, and even give you the chance to live longer. One of the main reasons for this is that social living in old age can prevent loneliness, which can lead to depression, isolation, and unhappiness.
Often when we retire, and we stop going to work, we lose touch with our friends and colleagues, and we find ourselves much more alone than we’ve ever been before. This can have a negative effect on our mental and physical health.
It might seem as though there’s not much that you can do about this now, but there is. Even when you are busy, make time for your friends. Develop your friendships and keep them going, and there’s no reason you can’t stay firm friends for life.
Find Hobbies That You Love
When we’re young, we don’t always have the time for hobbies, and many of the things that we felt passionate about when we were kids get left behind. Then, as we get older, our time becomes more limited as we move up the career ladder, raise families or both. Suddenly, we’re old. We don’t have anything in our life that we love to do. We retire with nothing to fill our time, and we’ve spent our working years so busy that we suddenly feel empty and lost. It can be almost like we don’t know how to relax.
Starting hobbies now can help your future self immeasurably. Finding hobbies that you love, and that you are keen to make the time for will help to keep your mind young and alert, give you a way to meet new people and ensure that you have love in your life, no matter what else happens.
Start Saving
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One of our biggest worries about retirement is money. We worry that we will still have debt or a mortgage to pay off when we finish work. We’re concerned that we won’t have enough money to enjoy our retirement, or that we will end up poor. Start saving now, and avoid debt where you can, and you’ll never need to worry.
Be More Aware
One of the best ways to prepare yourself for retirement and old age is simply being more aware of your body and your mind. Become more aware of how the things that you are doing now will affect you in the future.
