HOW ABOUT NOW?

As we go about creating a map for our adventures in aging, we are beginning by taking a look at wherever you are at this point in your life.  In the last post we queried ourselves about what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and now we need to scan our minds about some of the current challenges we face:

In order of their importance, please create a list of the challenges you face in your life right now?

The challenges you face may be physical, mental, emotional, or situational. As an example of the latter, many of us are are currently trying to figure out how to support ourselves in this time of economic turmoil? Or we find ourselves questioning just how long we can continue to work, even though what we will live on when we stop working is going to be a major problem.  These are serious problems for a whole lot of people, and ones which will have to be addressed by the society as a whole as well as by individuals stuggling to find answers for themselves. 

Be sure you keep your list up to date as things can change in a heartbeat, and believe it or not it helps to refer to this list when things seem kind of overwhelming. Plus we will be working with issues that relate to things based on what you are experiencing at this time and how they will impact your future situation.
 

MAKING CHANGES

As we gear up to create a map for our personal Adventure in Aging, let us do a bit of reviewing of the things we've had to change as we've meandered along through life. And yes, some of the changes we've had to make were done so only after several tries at going on without making the necessary change we were facing.  If we survived this period then we must count ourselves lucky, and be grateful for living long enough to actually accomplish what we needed to do.

You may begin by remembering changes as "simple" as having to exercise every day to keep your sore back from creating havoc in your life, or as difficult as giving up your cherished running program because your knees developed severe problems. Whatever the changes are that you remember, be they life changing or just needed at the time, you want to note that as these various challenges came up, you just eventually did what you had to do.  When it comes right down to it, we've all weathered changes of many kinds, and come out the other side doing the best we could with it all.

 It may help you to ask yourself these questions to prime your memory about changes you've made:

1. What is your usual response to making changes in your life?

2. What kind of changes have proved the most challenging for you?

I'm also going to suggest that you make a list of the changes you've accomplished, and save it! You will find that consulting this list will be of help in shoring up your confidence in yourself when you are facing yet another change that is necessary, but perhaps unwelcome and difficult to imagine surviving.

JOIN US AS WE CREATE A MAP FOR OUR AVENTURES IN AGING

 Join us as we do some questing in search of crucial information that will help us to make good decisions about how to get where we want to go in our adventures in aging. Formulating a mental map that will help us see the terrain of this next stage of life can be an exciting and creative undertaking, and one I hope you will find can be accomplished with the format I'll be presenting in this blog and in my book Adventures in Aging.

 Gaining an appreciation of where you been and what you've done in your life is a good foundation for creating a map of the years that are ahead of you. Let's start putting together a review of our life experiences with a question about where you are right now:

 What do you do in your life at this time that brings you a real sense of meaning and purpose?

You want to answer the question with both whatever pops into your mind first, and then give it some real thought. You may want to write or record your answer as it will be important to look back at it from time to time.

I will be adding pictures to my blogs of some of the collage work I do. I'll be trying to pair the pictures with the feelings that the particular question addressed in the blog evokes for me. I suggest that as you answer the questions for yourself you look for images that do the same for you.