My grandmother had such a zest for life. Looking back, I think she was a role model for me to keep learning and staying relevant.
She took up new hobbies, played Monopoly and Scrabble with us and even appeared on TV on a craft show.
I can tell by talking to someone whether they are going to be happy or unhappy as they age.
Sometimes we let fear keep us safe in our comfort zone and we don’t make the effort to stay relevant by connecting with and learning from different people.
Here’s what I learnt about staying relevant as I find myself busier and my circle of friends growing at 65.
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1. Staying relevant by finding opportunities to learn
I put myself in situations where I am learning something new. It opens up my world and gives me new perspectives.
I feel this is important as it keeps me connected and relevant, especially in view of the rapid changes that’s taking place around us.
At this age we don’t really need to achieve anything. We can choose whatever we want to learn and we don’t need to have a reason for doing it.
2. Finding your own way to meet people and learning from them
Not everyone is an extrovert and likes going out to meet strangers. When people stop working, the opportunity to network can be limited depending on the outside work activities they pursued while working.
Volunteering, entertaining at home, joining interest groups are good ways to connect with others. I enjoy connecting with the young and people of different cultures as it adds to the diversity of ideas I get exposed to and it expands my thinking.
Sticking to our own friend circle of people who are similar can limit our thinking because they are just echoing our own thoughts and beliefs.
3. Staying positive to connect with others
Nobody likes talking to someone who is a complainer. This is something we need to keep a check on as we get older.
As people age they often talk about their ailments and they also complain about how things were better when they were younger.
How does it help the current moment aside from sucking the life out it? Find ways to see what’s working. Be present in the moment by appreciating the blessings we have.
We have the time to do this at this point of our lives; enjoy it and take it all in. I remind myself to slow down, say thank you more often, find something in my environment to appreciate and smile more.
4. Being smart about technology to stay relevant
Some people are very good at forwarding messages that they receive on social media but they don’t realise that what they forward tells others a lot about them.
Algorithms are designed to cater to what the user pays attention to. My young adult children have taught me much about trends, scams, do’s and don’ts when it comes to online behaviour.
Find a young mentor to help with this. Learn new skills and learn to use AI effectively.
If there’s a generation that’s been through massive change, it would be those of us who have seen life before fax machines, mobile phones and the Internet.
We have seen more, been through more and have had to learn more because we couldn’t Google it in the past. I feel we owe it to ourselves to age in style, stay relevant and set an example for the next generation on how to age with grace and dignity.
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