Growing old gracefully

Growing old gracefully 

Fortunate to be living in a family where many are above 80 years old, both on my mothers side and fathers side. We celebrated one 90, one 87 and one 86 year old relatives birthday all in May 2023.

Imagine the world, when they were born in 1930s. It was kingdoms, maharajas and British India. They have seen everything from advent of electricity to chatGPT, steam engines to electric vehicles, World War II, Independence to Social media - and kept pace.

How are these men and women able to maintain thier physical and mental fitness at this age? More importantly also maintain thier dignity and grace?

I'm seeing a few patterns.. 

1. Moderation in everything they do. Eating, Talking, Sleeping, TV, social media etc

2. A deep sense of gratitude to life.

3. Reading (and writing) to keep thier mental acumen sharp

4. Walking everyday for a while. Following a routine from dawn to dusk.

5. Strong social circle of friends and relatives. This is onetime I appreciate what's app groups..

6. Financially independent, but stay with family, and keep thier expenses low.

7. A sense of humor, to look at the silly side of life and life's situations.

8. Being spiritual and spending more time, in prayer and giving back whatever little to others.

9. Acceptance. This is old age and certain things like an old machine will not work.

10. Talk only when asked for advice. Else minding own business.

11. Keep learning new things. Be curious.

12. Look forward l, rather than look backward.

More importantly they do NOT do certain things..

1. Complain, how thier aging hurts them. 

2. Criticize, others or situations they are in.

3. Envy, others who might be in better health.

4. Boast, about thier past too often OR Live life in past, saying how things were better in earlier times.

It's a blessing to see so many aunts and uncles being role models, in the golden years of thier life.

Respect, Salute.
Nash Narasimhan Tupil 

A group pic May 2023 has 7 people above 80 in one frame. 
My mom with the Distinguished Alumni award I won in August 2023




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