Jul 21, 2021
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 114, “Learn how to Age Well in 2021.”
Several weeks ago a family friend stopped over to our house, and on her way out the door, she said, “Oh, by the way, I listened to your podcast this morning [episode 109, Rekindle Relationships by Remembering]. It made me feel guilty about a friend of mine who lost her husband a year ago. So I called her to set up a time to get together. Thank you.”
This was certainly encouraging to know. I hope others of you are remembering a key event or two in the life of your friends and then taking action on what you remember to rekindle or deepen your relationship with that person.
Last week’s episode, number 113, Our Choices Define Us, Not Our Personality was a review of Benjamin Hardy’s book, Personality Isn’t Permanent. In his book there is a 6-word paragraph that I’ve been thinking about all week that I’m making the subject of today’s episode. Those six words?
“People become old far too fast”
Keep listening to hear what we can do to keep from becoming old far too fast.
To put this six-word paragraph into its context, I’ll read a brief section from Hardy’s book:
“As a person ages, they tend to stop engaging in new situations, experiences, and environments. In other words, people’s personalities become increasingly consistent because they stop putting themselves in new contexts. p. 200.
“By the time a person reaches their thirties, they stop having as many ‘first experiences,’ as an example, first time driving, first job, first big failure, etc.
“As people age, they become increasingly less open to having new experiences. They stop surrounding themselves with new types of people. They stop engaging in new roles and in new environments. New challenges aren't taken on anymore. They stop experiencing new emotions.
"People become old far too fast.”
The operative word in his comments is “new.” The author writes how people who become old far too fast avoid “new.” By my count he uses the word “new” eight times in the section I just read.
I don’t know about you, but I wonder if this is true for me, too. Do I avoid “new”?
Because truth be told, I’m a fan of “old.” Old ways of doing things. Familiar foods, familiar clothes, familiar people. Old ways of dealing with life that I think have served me well.
But maybe I’m missing something. How about you? Maybe we all need a little more “new” in our lives to age well.
Hmm. If you’re with me on this, I’d like to suggest we focus on just one new thing to keep us from becoming old far too fast.
It’s this: learn one new skill. And that skill would be INVESTING. Yes, investing. Not investing money, but investing in ourselves, and investing in others
How can you use what you’ve heard today to improve the relationships in YOUR life? Here are a few ideas:
We can age well by investing in our self and in others. It keeps our focus more on the new and less on the old. And it prevents us from aging faster than we should.
I’d love to hear any thoughts you have about today’s episode. Just send them to me in an email to john [at] caringforothers [dot] org. Or you can share your thoughts in the “Leave a Reply” box at the bottom of the show notes.
In closing, if you found this podcast helpful, please subscribe if you haven’t already done so. Feel free to forward this episode to others you think might be interested in today’s content.
I hope your thinking was stimulated by today’s show, to both reflect and to act. So that you will find the joy God intends for you through your relationships. Because after all, You Were Made for This.
Well, that’s all for today. I look forward to connecting with you again next week. Goodbye for now.
Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s book, Personality Isn’t permanent
Prior episodes:
113 Our Choices Define Us, Not Our Personality.
044: Thankful for the People Who Invested in Us
011 Relationship Skills - Level 1
012 Relationship Skills - Level 2
013 Relationship Skills - Level 3
014 Relationship Skills - Level 4
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