05 Mar Live your best life – sometimes we are so busy surviving, we forget to plan

I recently watched a YouTube broadcast from an American lady in her 90s called Lorraine, who was talking about things she wished she had thought about in her 60s, and I thought that some of her wise observations were worth sharing as a gentle reminder to prepare for our future.  Our role as Community Builders is to help you live your best life, and sometimes we are so busy surviving that we forget to plan.

Our bodies will change, so we need to keep building muscle, maintain an active lifestyle, and work on our balance while we are still able. There are many classes to help you across the bay.

Friends sadly die, so we should keep casting our net and making friends, whatever age we are. (Your Community Builder can help!)

Talk about death and money early, tell people what we want to happen, plan our funerals and share our will details – don’t wait until we are in crisis – get the difficult conversation done early and make life easier for everyone.

Find things you love ahead of retirement – it took Lorraine three years of floundering to find life after work, doing volunteering and feeling useful gets the happy endorphins going (your Community Builder can how to help!)

Reach out to others – forgive now! – Don’t carry over fights and disagreements, put differences aside.

Acknowledge that adult children are now adults, and don’t necessarily need advice.  Be present for them.

Record what you want your younger family to know about who you were.  Share memories and stories, birthdays, favourite recipes.  (We may soon have a Journalling group starting in Paignton/Preston, so do get in touch!)

Face our fears with courage and do it anyway. Continue to push our boundaries- pay attention to things that are important, make each day count, laugh readily, make calls, take trips, be open, say I LOVE YOU…life goes by much faster as we get older.

What sound advice from a lovely lady!

If any of this has resonated with you, and you need some help to live your best life, please do contact your local Community Builder via Torbay Community Helpline 01803 446022 or here our website.  We are there to help you enjoy the things you love in your community.