Positive Perspectives on Aging & Fast Walking

Weekly Resource Roundup

Finding Strengths in Aging

Arthur Brooks offers up some positive perspectives on aging in his book, Strength by Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. Here are two favorite excerpts from the book:
Fluid intelligence is conceptualized as the decontextualized ability to solve abstract problems, while crystallized intelligence represents a person’s knowledge gained during life by acculturation and learning. ” Translation: When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom. When you are young, you can generate lots of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.

Roman philosopher Cicero believed three things about older age. First, it should be dedicated to service, not goofing off. Second, our greatest gift later in life is wisdom, in which learning and thought create a worldview that can enrich others. Third, our natural ability at this point is counsel: mentoring, advising, and teaching others, in a way that does not amass worldly rewards of money, power, or prestige.

Positive Perceptions on Aging = Better Health

Beliefs and expectations are the foundation on which outcomes are built. –Dr. Justin Dunaway. Beliefs and expectations are the foundation on which aging is experienced. Multiple studies have shown that individuals with positive perspectives on aging are more resilient to disease, disability, and function better than those with a negative perspective. People with positive age stereotypes are 44% more likely to recover from a disability, they are 50% less likely to develop dementia, have a 13% reduction in cardiovascular events, and perform better on walking speed tests. Negative perspectives on aging can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The Growing Bolder website and Old Not Weak Instagram account offer some positive examples of aging well.