An 'A-P-L Each Day' -- Too Much To Ask?

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest? We Boomers still are!" Oh, that Boomer ego! 

While we love to see those senior discounts coming our way hot and heavy (that doesn’t mean we can be bought, but we do have our price!), we still want a youthful appearance looking back at us when we look in that mirror! 

We’re even OK with increasing the number of candles on our birthday cake, since it gives us another reason to warm the room and surround ourselves with family and friends. But, calling us a "senior" -- well, that's a fighting word!

Old Fuddy-duddies or senile? No way! We plan on having just as much fun and enjoying life now as we did our first 65 years. Based on a 2009 Pew Research survey, the typical Boomer believes that old age does not begin until age 72, And 61% of Boomers in that study felt as much as nine years younger than his/her actual chronological age.

The word “senior” seems to have some baggage with it, so maybe what we need is to coin a word that inspires us. Hmm, maybe “Wild Things”…or maybe we should call ourselves “Prime Timers” or “Zippers. Any ideas here?

Bottom line, with 10,000 fellow Boomers turning 65 daily, we shouldn’t be lonely! Add this number to the already large group of seniors, and by the year 2030, up to 20% of the U.S. population will be 65 and older. That’s one out of five of our neighbors buying groceries, driving cars, and voting for President of the United States…whew! 

So, new name or not, if we can just encourage our peers about an “A-P-L Each Day” - Active Positive Lifestyle, that is - we'll still have a lot of playmates! And the definition of an Active Positive Lifestyle? A lifestyle full of positive attitudes, passions, healthy living choices and a strong zest for life. A lifestyle that creates value for yourself and others, while making decisions to better yourself and encourages others to do the same.     

An Active Positive Lifestyle includes:

• Eat Right – Eat your fruits and veggies.
• Be Active - Stimulate your mind and your body.
• Stay Engaged – do something productive that you love – your passion will keep you motivated.
• Get Connected - surround yourself with other Active Positive People.  This means more fun, supports your emotional wellbeing, and keeps a smile on your face.

Remember this one? “You don’t stop playing because you get old…you get old because you stop playing!” 

All right, all right, we admit it -- we have a couple of very selfish reasons for writing this article. Firstly, we want our friends to be able to enjoy their lives with family and friends and to be around to “hang” with us. Our second reason is dollar motivated: When we seniors are healthy and fit, we make less insurance claims and put less demand on the medical system. Hence, there is less upward pressure on our insurance premiums, but that's another article in itself for another time.   (Guess we do have our price after all!)   

So remember an A-P-L each day. Please keep yourself active, positive and healthy…too much to ask?      

Positively yours,
Sheri and Bill