Celebrate, embrace the 'new you'

Celebrate, embrace the 'new you' - Are you always worried about aging? If so, do not obsess over it and make positive moves instead. Rather than thinking of ourselves growing older, we should think of “growing newer” like a plant that grows new roots, new branches, new leaves, and new flowers, as Rev. Fr. William S. Chiganos of Westchester, Illinois reminded in one of his sermons. What does that mean? How to proceed? Well, start afresh, reinvent yourself! I will help you through the renewal process with the following guidelines.

• Forget the numbers of your years that depress you and stop your personal growth
• Examine your lifestyle behaviors closely
• Review your daily diet, eat nutrient-dense food, and keep your weight down
• Keep active, exercise, and walk up the stairs
• Keep regular sleeping hours
• Interact with people of all ages (avoid grumpy people)
• Surround yourself with what and whom you love
• Stay connected with family and friends and be happy
• Stimulate your brain (learn new skills, art, languages, computer, gardening, take courses)
• Do crossword puzzles; play memory and card games
• Keep smiling and cheerful and laugh long and loud; tears can be relieving
• Be positive, feel good about yourself; avoid guilt trips and do not dwell on the past
• Avoid anger and conflict
• Be sensitive to others’ feelings
• Be generous, help, give (money, love, affection, advice, knowledge) and share what you know
• Correct your flaws; be accountable for what you say or do
• Exercise moderation in all lifestyle practices
• Appreciate life’s blessings and cherish good health

It is important to live your life without regrets and forget counting your passing years. Watching your life slipping restrains your personal growth and keeps you looking backward rather forward. Look ahead and plan ahead. Ninety-seven-year old Japanese, Shigeaki Hinohara, one of the longest living and serving physicians and educators, is still teaching, writing books, and lecturing. He recommends planning ahead. By the way, his “schedule book” is already full until 2014.

Go through your lifestyle behaviors and change what needs to be changed. At the age of renewal, your diet should be nutritious and balanced. Because your portions should be kept small and weight low, your food should be nutrient-dense, very rich in fresh, whole, and organic superfoods like vegetables (dark leafy greens, roots, cabbage family), fruits (mango, fig, orange, banana, apple, strawberry, goji, red grape, cranberry, kiwifruit, papaya, blueberry, cherry, raspberry, guava, blackberry, blackcurrant, date, pomegranate, prune), grains, and legumes. Spices like turmeric, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom detoxify the body and can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. Eat fish (frequently), poultry, eggs, and low-fat yogurt for animal protein, but lower fatty dairy products and red and processed meats. Fat intake should consist of omega-3, 6 and 9 fatty acids from nuts, seeds, olives, avocadoes, and fish. According to Dr. Sarah M. Conklin of the University of Pittsburg, “The higher the intake of omega-3 the larger were the volumes of gray matter in areas of the brain associated with mood and regulation of emotion. Remember that reasonable portions maintain healthy weight, which can lead to healthy longevity.

Fatty foods, saturated fats and transfats (hydrogenated and overheated oils for frying) are harmful to your vascular system, heart, and brain. You have to take into account that smoking, alcohol, chemicals, processed foods, off-the-shelf bakery goods, and refined sugar and grains are enemies of your health.

Sufficient water intake improves blood flow, renal functions, and oxygenation process. Eight glasses (room temperature) of water are a good amount to take to replace daily loss, resulting from various organ functions and perspiration. Don’t wait to feel thirst; the sensation is considerably reduced with age. Hot temperatures and exercise require more fluid intake. Herbal teas (mint, chamomile, lemon grass) are healthy and replenishing.

Keep active by including regular moderate activities (walking, cycling, swimming, climbing the stairs, gardening). Take deep breaths to expand your lungs. Deep inhalations and exhalations renew oxygen and pump it to your heart, body, and brain and rid them of carbon dioxide.

Night sleep is important for cell regeneration and repair and to boost natural killer cells, immunity, and infection and cancer fighting mechanism. Healthy sleep increases the production of serotonin and endorphins, feel-good neurotransmitters. Restful sleep and short afternoon naps (no more than 30 minutes) improve health and mood. A Greek study showed that those who napped regularly decreased their risk of heart attacks.

Keep a clean living environment away from city and industrial smog. Surround yourself with house plants and trees to detoxify.

Interacting with people of all ages and staying connected with close and extended family and friends enhances mood, immunity, and overall health. Enjoying simple things brightens the outlook on life. Having a cup of tea with a friend or dinner with a family member lifts the spirit. Exchanging thoughts, ideas, news and knowledge with them improves memory and cognitive skills. Grandchildren keep you happy, young, and physically and mentally active. Join their activities and games to tease your brain. Surround yourself with your favorite people and objects, photographs, plants, and fragrant natural scents of essential oils and flowers. The latter two enhance the memory and cognitive performance.

Stimulate your brain! What does that means? It means “use it or lose.” Your brain is like any part of your body: The more you work it; the better it functions. The more your brain operates; the more your neurons (brain cells) connect. Through learning a new skill or language, your brain cells become inter-wired like the World Wide Web or telephone networks. According to a team of scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, “Searching the web stimulated the centers in the brain that controlled decision making and complex reasoning.”

Canadian scientists found that people who are bilingual and daily use both languages can delay the onset of dementia by four years. This includes learning computer skills, gardening, carpentry, art, or pottery; solving crossword puzzles, riddles, mathematical equations; and playing memory, card, or other games. Studies found that nuns who played cards or solved puzzles maintained their cognitive skills well into their nineties.

According to Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), “Learning starts from the crib and extends to the grave.” Learning should never end and knowledge should never stop. The path of learning is the way to your renewal. Like a plant, everyday a new bud or leaf extends from the old plant.

Assume a positive attitude. Remove such words as “I can’t,” “I am tired,” and “I am old” from your vocabulary and replace them with “I can” and “I will”. Repeating positive or negative words can have psychosomatic effects on the brain (mood) and the body (pain) accordingly. Keep smiling. A smiling face and a happy demeanor send you messages of joy and good vibes to others and in turn makes the ambiance congenial. The Prophet says, “...Smiling to your brethren is a charitable act.”

A good laugh lifts your mood and boosts your immunity. Watch your favorite funny episodes and standup comedies more often. Listen to jokes and crack jokes once in a while. Don’t be afraid to let out a loud laugh. Every now and then, drop a few tears; they relieve pain, anxiety, or sorrow.

Avoid anger and conflict. They consume you; make those around you miserable; and sour the mood. Be sensitive to the feelings of others and attentive to them. Anger, conflict, and bluntness drive people away from you, even your loved one. Such attitudes make them apprehensive and uneasy in your presence, not knowing what to expect. God in His Holy Qur’an promises paradise for those who contain their anger (Chapter: 2; Verse: 134).

Be generous, help, and give whenever you can whether it is money, love, affection, a listening ear, advice, or knowledge. Don’t be selfish with advice and knowledge. It is gratifying to give and help others. Altruistic acts add to your wisdom and make you reflect on issues other than your own. This is what differentiates you from others and makes you nobler, wiser, and more trustworthy. If you are affluent, be charitable and fulfill others’ needs. Philanthropy and charity give a lot of satisfaction and happiness to the giver.

Don’t hold back on your emotions and love. If you love someone just say it with a word, an affectionate gesture, a tender look, a kiss, a touch, or a hug. Such spontaneous moves increase bonding between two people and make them happier and stronger emotionally and physically. Prophet Mohammed advised his apostles that when one feels affection for his brethren, he should express that affection.

Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes and correct your flaws. It is important to hold oneself accountable for one’s deeds. It does not reduce your respectability. In fact, humility makes you nobler; adds to your wisdom; and makes you a better person to live with. Unless corrected in time, bad habits (lying, gossiping, bullying, cynicism, extravagance, selfishness, stinginess, obstinacy) become magnified as you grow.

Moderation is of the essence in all your lifestyles practices (eating habits, daily tasks, actions, exercise, and conduct). All actions should be done within a balance. Extremes and excesses can be harmful to physical, emotional, and mental health.

It is important to appreciate the blessing in your life. If something is taken away from you, rest assured you will be given a better substitute. Do not attempt changing what you cannot change. Cherish your health; your health is your wealth. Appreciation brings satisfaction; satisfaction brings happiness.

Remember, every day that passes by adds years to your age, which make you grow newer roots, buds, flowers, branches, and leaves of wisdom, knowledge, strength, sacrifice, devotion, sincerity, love, character, patience, and generosity. Older trees are stronger and more statuesque than younger ones. Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself. Enjoy the “new you!” ( arabnews.com )