By Jane A. Malkoff MSN RN NP
Can I get a witness? People are awesome!
Several years ago I started wondering if there were certain shared characteristics among the many amazing people in the world around me, especially among those people I serve in our business providing private care consulting and advocacy. How did these folks come to possess the qualities of goodness, happiness, and health as they aged? I decided to take a look at our clientele at Clarity as well as literature on the subject to draw out common themes on how a person might come to be the embodiment of an awesome life. Maybe you will find the results useful if not at least interesting. Listed below are those possible attributes of amazing people living happy and long lives.
- Nurturing of community and creating/maintaining strong connections with people
- Appreciating of simple pleasures and experiences
- Possessing a sense of humor, especially about oneself.
- Listening to and enjoying music/playing an instrument.
- Having a normal blood pressure.
- Being a non-smoker.
- Avoiding heavy alcohol use.
- Maintaining a zest for life.
- Having good longevity genes.
- Involving oneself in spiritual beliefs.
- Practicing self-reliance.
- Prioritizing intellectual activity
Of those twelve attributes, eleven are under our own control. Yikes! It turns out for the most part all of those wonderful humans I meet are actually making daily choices that have led to their awesomeness. I have my work cut out for me and some major New Year resolutions to make.
It is easy to get caught up imagining all the ways the people around us are not-so-awesome especially as we are bombarded with little snapshots of negative news and media hype as we go about our busy days of working, taking care of family, making ends meet, managing our households, keeping our stress under our hats, giving up on quiet thoughtful time to ourselves, and all the rest. Yet, when we ignore the chatter, put away the politics, and set aside everything trying to persuade us, we realize we can do it and the people around us are leaning far more toward awesome than not-so-awesome.
While I work on the 11 out of the 12 characteristics I need to nurture in myself, I would like to think if I make a choice right now to simply listen closely enough, keep my mouth shut long enough, and start from the premise individuals are well-intended I just might have the great fortune to recognize and then to share precious time and space with many more amazing humans in the New Year. Welcome 2017. Bring it on.