Keeping Passion Alive: Healthy Aging For Baby Boomers and Everyone Else
Have you ever wondered what it would take to keep passion alive throughout the years? If you are in your teens or early twenties, you may believe that you will be the one to defy the odds and remain healthy, youthful, energetic and exuberant throughout your life. You may look at older people and say to yourself, “I will never look like that or have the physical problems they have.”
However, reality reveals that everybody ages, everybody gets older, everybody. There is only one alternative. And even with the most pristine lifestyle, perfect diet, incredibly active physical fitness routines, there are certain invevitable facts of life. All of our organ systems gradually decline. There is a rule of aging called the 1 % rule. Every organ system begins to decline at about the rate of 1% every year – not starting in your late 60′s or 70′s, but beginning in your early 20′s.
Baby boomers are one group that never believed they would age. They went braless, smoked pot, burnt the American flag, marched to end the war in Vietnam, protested for peace and free love, and lived in communes to share and love with others.
This group of health and youth advocates is growing older. The very first group will turn 65 in 2011. And they want answers NOW about how to stop, or at least delay, the aging process. If you are in your 20′s, 30′s, or early 40′s, the generations after the baby boomers, you are currently experiencing the joy of being in the prime of your life. But NOW is the best time for you to pay attention to your own health and well being. NOW is the time to take the steps that will insure not only longevity but also living in the present moment in the most healthy, productive, and joyful way possible.
Please join me for an exciting interview on a radio show hosted by the site FindYourLoveNow.com.
May 31st, 2010 at 11:21 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Karin Boode, DrErica. DrErica said: New blog post: Keeping Passion Alive: Healthy Aging For Baby Boomers and Everyone Else http://bit.ly/cSc95L [...]
June 1st, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Thanks Erica for this uplifting post! I was humming the song by the Beatles by the end! I agree with your observations, yet I marvel at how hard we humans find love to be at times. I guess part of the challenge is we need to start sometimes with self love so that we don’t feel less than others. I know that my self love has grown exponentially over the last decade, and my life is much better as a result. I went from not likely lots of people to loving people in general. I still have some exceptions where I haven’t learned to love yet. Thanks for the reminder that love is all we need.
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June 1st, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Developing self-love is an ongoing process, so easy to get deflated and discouraged. My book, Love Me…Please is all about that, lots of exercises, life and relationship reviews. The firmer we are in our own sense of self-acceptance and self-love, the bettter all of our relationships become because we can more easily accept and love others.
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June 1st, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for sharing this Karin.
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June 2nd, 2010 at 4:28 am
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
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June 3rd, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Thanks for your comments.
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June 4th, 2010 at 4:15 am
Speaking of love, I Love this post! Yes, it is the one thing that drives the world and points us in the right direction. As you point out, love is inherent in our nature, it is hate that is learned. We have the power to promote all that is good and to reject all that is not driven by love and kindness.
Not only are we called to love one another but to love ourselves. For many, sadly, here lies the challenge…
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June 5th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Kathy, It’s so true that sometimes it’s hard to love ourselves but today I found it difficult to love a few women in my health club because they brought their young sons (3 years old, 8 years old). One boy was running up and down the aisle, prancing through the womens’ locker room as we were at different levels of undress.
Finally, one woman had a little girl and a little boy a few lockers down from me, and I spoke up and told her that boys did not belong in the womens’ locker room. She snapped at me, nasty, saying “Don’t speak that way to me in front of my son. If you don’t like it, go change in the bathroom.” I walked away, rather upset, certainly not feeling “love” for her.
But then, to my surprise, she came over to apologize and explained that she never brings her son into the locker room. She had her friend’s daughter with her, who was feeling sick with a stomach virus, and the child care center was closed at this hour and wouldn’t take her son. She was obviously very stressed and apologized so sweetly. So I told her I was upset because of the boy who had been running and that she was the first mother I could even say anything to, and I apologized for saying it in front of her son. So it ended with a sense of compassion and love.
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June 5th, 2010 at 5:27 am
Hi Erica,
I’ve suffered some serious illnesses / accidents in my life and fought my way back each time to a happy life. Many people dismiss aging, just like you mentioned, as denial of the inevitable or unfortunately, something they tackle after they become sick.
It’s important to pay attention to our bodies’ messages to us (I’ve ignored mine a couple of times). I’ve learned to listen to what my body needs and actively take care of my health.
Boomers need to listen to your advise if they want to experience a life worth living – with happiness and strength to do the things they love and surround themselves with supportive people.
Larry
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June 5th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Larry, I think that is the key – paying attention to our body’s messages and also noticing our thoughts, not ignoring either.
If we can embrace the changes that naturally occur and find fulfillment, we can remain happy and productive throughout live.
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June 6th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Hi Dr. Erica,
Keeping passion alive is one of the greatest challenges all people in LTRs face. My personal experience with passion is that it changes as we get older, and actually becomes richer and more meaningful if we are open to receiving those changes. Unfortunately, the culture around us shows only the “fireworks” side of passion, which is fleeting and not necessarily a great breeding ground for a satisfying LTR (although most of us believe it is).
Only through a commitment to hard work and compassion for ourselves and our partner can we create a foundation on which to build a lasting and passionate relationship with another. There may be days, months, even years when it seems that passion is absent, but it never is…IF you are willing to look beyond the superficial (and sexual) meaning of the word passion to find how much more there is to it.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom on this timeless topic!
Mary Lou
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June 8th, 2010 at 2:55 am
Erica, I feel the love from you …
life feels so strange sometimes.. youth seems to last forever and time seems to slow down when you’re young. Now it seems to just fly.. I was one of those “hippys” what days those were.. Youth does not have the mindset to think about years later and their health. I try to teach my son about this now in small doses(14) because one day he’ll be 50!
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June 9th, 2010 at 4:33 am
Mary Lou, Thanks for sharing your insight and personal wisdom about long term relationships. We are often fooled by outer appearances. A partner who is preoccupied with their own personal issues may appear to not love us, not care, have low sexual desire. However, with compassion, tender caring, time and space, the passion and fire can reemerge from the ashes, unexpectedly and delightfully – especially if the lines of communication remain open.
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June 9th, 2010 at 4:38 am
Lesly,
Youth feels as if it will last forever, those wonderful langorous summer afternoons, the giggly excitement about getting tickets to some event or having a first kiss. As we age, there is a bittersweet joy that we can feel if we are not attached to the past, if we let go of our youthful innocence, yet retain the joy and wonder and passion of being alive.
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