Author: SeniorsFutures

Hi. I'm Mary. I have a Ph.D. in Organization Development and worked as a consultant on education in several countries. Now, I am a Senior and enjoy all the opportunities and challenges that this age brings. I love to travel, write, paint, and create. Most of my articles are in this site: https://goglobaltoday.com

Why Terrific Sleep Is A Must for Seniors

Sleep is the body’s natural way of relieving stress, relaxing tired muscles, energizing the system, and making the body strong and healthy. Studies proved that people must sleep for at least eight hours a day for the body to function well.

However, due to our crazy lifestyle and the troubles the battles that go on in the day by day life, we short change ourselves of sleep.

Sleep deprivation refers to the body’s lack of sleep due to many factors. And once you miss it, it’s gone. You can’t make up for it. So, why is sleep deprivation a common occurrence in today’s Seniors? What are the causes, symptoms, and effects of the no snooze body bruise!

Causes of Sleep Deprivation

There are many explainable causes of sleep deprivation:

  • First, it could be because of your own choice. Sometimes you sleep very late at night because you still have work to finish or enjoy watching movies or prefer finishing a book you have started to read. Some nuts think it shows toughness to be able to crimp on the Z’s. This idiocy is inexplicable!
  • Next, illness can also keep you awake most of the night. You have medicines to take, and the feeling of discomfort brought about by illness can disrupt you. Some medicines contain stimulants, which make it hard for sleep to come by. 
  • Then there’s the utter doofustry of the mega meal before crashing. The meal’s digestive consequences lead to the great toss and turn, and little rest. 
  • Furthermore, your sleeping environment can be the cause too. If you are new to a place, you live in a noisy neighborhood, or the room is too hot or cold, you will not be able to sleep soundly at all. On the other hand, some people suffer from sleep disorders like snoring and sleep apnea. Or the midnight kickers with legs flailing. ​

How can you tell that you are already depriving yourself of sleep? 

The symptoms of sleep deprivation are many. The first sign is the constant yawning. Sometimes, you will sleep in the middle of a meeting or when you are working on something. You find yourself groggy, especially in the morning. You feel like you no longer want to get out of your bed. Heroic dreamers leap to life as they kill dragons or fall off cliffs. 

And the consequences of sleep shortfall? 

A shortfall in sleep makes you feel out of sorts. You become irritable, moody, and hot-tempered. You snap at people and become easily affected by the most superficial changes or problems. You also start to lose concentration.

It seems you no longer focus on the matters at hand and began to commit more mistakes. Your nose becomes painful as you doze and slam your fact into the table.

Depriving yourself of sleep…or more correctly, depriving yourself of rest, is very unhealthy.

There are many nasty effects of sleep deprivation:

  • For starters, it can significantly affect your work performance. You will lack the drive to work, become less efficient, and commit many mistakes. You will no longer be able to make wise decisions or get along with your fellow workers. 
  • Next, it can be detrimental to your health. You will become thinner since you are always restless, and you lack appetite. You may get dark circles under your eyes, and your skin may become dry and wrinkly. 

Remedies for sleep deprivation

So…prepare for sleep as you would for a marathon or an important event. 

   • Make sure the room temperature is comfortable, and the mattress works for you. 

   • How many pillows? How big? How soft?

   • Duvet or blankets. Think. It all makes a difference to your comfort. 

   • Exercise between a moderate dinner and hitting the sheets. No coffee or coke. 

   • Booze? Hahahaha. 

   • White noise? It works for some. 

   • Snore proofer? Lots available over the counter. 

Sleep with no rest makes no sense. There are so many things you can do to stay youthful, healthy, and strong. But you will get a head start by sleeping correctly and giving your body enough rest. ​

Top 5 Benefits of Travel for Seniors

Travel awakens the spirit. For Seniors, travel makes you feel younger once again. Not only feel younger but look more youthful, too.

I recently met up with a friend who just came back from a trip to Europe, and I was surprised at the change in her appearance. I told her travel serves her well and that she should do it more often.

Rhonda, Spain

I have never seen a group so involved in whatever activities laid out for the day. They approached it with so much enthusiasm, although I’ve observed that this was not a first for them. They were like children on a school trip. But, they look out for each other. Nothing misses them. They help each other find restaurants and the bus after a shopping stop or a visit to one of the destinations.

Today, I thought of the day I boarded with my 81-year-old friend the bus of Mary Morton Tours in Toronto. I was amazed to see that many more in the bus were older than her. They were excited and, from the looks of it, were regulars on this trip. They were all chatty as many have confined themselves in their places for weeks, making this trip a welcome change.

Connection
For many Seniors, travel is a crucial component of their lives. Most of them live on their own after having been widowed or divorced. Their families are primarily busy with kids, and though they love to see them occasionally, they are often alone. They crave for company, for some form of connection.

Some of them develop new friendships on these trips. Sometimes, on these tours, you connect with some people who continue to grow into close friends.

Engagement
Many Seniors have accomplished much in their lives. They want to still be in the thick and thin of events. They cannot stay home and live a quiet existence. For many, age is not an issue. They like silence but enjoy any form of engagement, having involved themselves previously in decisive events. They often raise the most interesting questions when on tour. When you live on your own and have no one to share with your thoughts, impressions, and comments, these trips provide avenues for sharing.

Knowledge and Experience
Seniors love to learn, and travel provides new knowledge about places, persons, events, cultures, and history. It is a very enriching activity, providing new experiences. A unique experience feeds the mind with challenges. It even rewires and renews it.

These trips involve people from varied backgrounds; some have participated in exceptional experiences, so they see from exciting perspectives. They have much to share that you gain new knowledge when participating in these trips. The experience is very exhilarating.

Challenge
Being on a trip is in itself a challenge. It encourages you to be more involved and be interested. Seniors bring up interesting conversation topics that thin your mind and usually make intelligent observations and comments. By the time you finish the day with them, your mind is complete and working hard. Better be ready.

Fun
Yes, this is the top thing travel brings to Seniors. It is a way of having fun, of getting out of a dreary existence. During the COVID lockdown, many Seniors call tour agencies and plead with them to bring them out anywhere, just out of the house. Out is fun. Seniors need enjoyment and to ensure they get this in their lives. It saves them from being lonely and depressed and makes their hearts, health, and minds lighter. It makes their Spirit dance.

So, take the time and get out. Take a trip even just for the day. Travel provides excellent benefits, and if you’re a Senior, you must put travel as a top priority.

Time for Inner Transformation

Finally, I followed my advice to use our senior years as the time to wake up. So, for weeks now, I have been working on my inner self. I did not realize how little I knew about my inner world. It’s a world on its own.

I realize that I have allowed mostly the external environment to determine my behaviour, action, and view of life all these years. I learned everything I needed to know from this environment to live my life more effectively. I lived this for years, and it is an approach very familiar to me. I know it very well, and I am comfortable with it. Little did I know that this utter dependence on the external environment has deprived me of a fuller life. I can say I had been relatively successful in life, and so this approach worked.

Recently, a friend introduced me to the ideas of Dr. Joe Dispenza. This friend has taken the workshop and found it very useful. At first, I hesitated to get into it myself. I got into Youtube to check out some of his lectures to know what he is talking about and whether it is valid.

This friend, who is now in her eighties but looks like she is only in her sixties, has researched the whole area of spirituality well. When she says something about spirituality, I believe her. So I continued engaging with Dr. Joe Dispenza, and as this friend took the workshop, she shared her experience. I was impressed with the changes in her that eventually, I registered. What impressed me was the way Dr. Dispenza used science to explain spirituality. The scientists are the new mystics. His team has measured what happens as a person enters into meditation. They showed the effects of meditation on the person.

Because I had wanted to develop my inner self, I got into it. I have never experienced such intense meditation before. I used to do meditation, but this guided meditation is new. In this guided meditation, the person undergoes an experience of transformation in which the self transcends itself and creates a new destiny, a new being.

This transformation is what I desire to happen in my senior years. It is happening. I am getting away from being my old self and creating a new person, someone I love and treasure, joyful, and enjoying life to the full.

You can do this, too. Start being the person you want to be, not someone created by your past, your environment, or the significant people in your life. Someone victimized you, so you go around waiting to be oppressed. It feels familiar and comfortable. You know it so well. You can relate to it quickly, but is this what you want to be in the following years of your life? You want to change, and you can do it.

I started reading the book of Dr. Joe Dispenza, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. I did the exercises. I also watched the youtube videos detailing what he wants us to understand to become new people. Later on, I registered for the workshop on his website. This workshop brought about a change in me that pleased me much. Here’s a video link to give you a peek at his work.

For those interested, here’s the link to Dr. Joe Dispensa’s book.

Time to Wake Up

Life is a gift of the Universe. Retirement is a time to wake up. Awaken to all the possibilities life brings. Finally, the challenges of raising a family and racing to the top of your career are behind you. Start anew.

How do we do this? Explore your area. Familiarize yourself with all the resources you can find around you. Take a more in-depth look now. Don’t just pass by. By the time you get home, your mind will be full of ideas about how to make your retirement fun.

FUN is the word. Forget all the obligations that tied you down all these years. This time is for you. We live in a time when it is best to grow old. Why am I saying this? We have all the resources to live as fully as we want. If you’re going somewhere, there’s active transport. Uber and Lyft are willing to bring you anywhere. There are discounts for Seniors for the activities you might think of doing, so what’s keeping you from enjoying your retirement?

Ah, many things do this to you. I know it so well because I have experienced them as well. There are countless worries about your health, finances, safety and many more. We can easily list a thousand and one reasons to keep ourselves from having fun.

Time to wake up, to be aware of the things around us. But what is more crucial is to be mindful of our environment and ourselves. With waking up, we are not just talking about fun. Make it fun, but the other result of waking up is a change in awareness.

When before, we were always busy about many things, now is the time to go deeper and inward into ourselves. Now, we have more time to listen to ourselves as there are not a hundred things to do on our list. Sometimes, there is nothing to do.

With the recent lockdown, you had so much time because of the limited social interaction. Many of you were upset that you couldn’t see your families, especially your grandchildren. You miss all of them. But now, it is the best time to go into yourself and become a better person so you can be a gift to your families. Imagine their wonder when they see you – your newly transformed self, the New You.

Waking Up is not a significant activity at all. It will not take too much time. All you need to start is allocate a few minutes every morning upon waking up. Spend a few minutes in silence, listening to your inner self. You will be surprised at what you’ll discover. Look at yourself closely and learn to appreciate it. Maybe you’ll find something you may not like at all. Look at it. Know it better and transform it. Right now, at your age, you already have the resources to deal with anything you’ll find. Your experience managing your life successfully for over 60 years is enough qualification. You are certified by experience to handle any of your discoveries. Embrace all – both the positive and the negative. These are just sides of the whole, opposite sides of our single self.

Wake up and have fun. Start Now.

Do Something WOW at Retirement

Retirement

Seniors, what is that WOW you so desire? This is your chance at living it. Some of us may think this WOW is beyond our means. Maybe it is. But this is the challenge, and having one at retirement makes life more exciting. 

We are now retired for 20 years the joy of early retirement) and each year is an adventure. Some are fun and easy and smooth sailing. Others are more challenging, but all these contribute to what retirement is all about.

Before we retired, we struggled about what we will do. We had options laid out. We were clear about what we did not want, but we had no clue about what we wanted to do.

I remember our many walks on Siesta Key Beach in Florida, talking endlessly about what we wanted to do. Each of us is often left with thoughts on the implications of these possibilities.

We were concerned. We were uncertain. We were afraid of what the future held for us. We were afraid of where our dreams would bring us or how the dream of one of us would affect our lives. We hesitated to think as we did not want so many changes to our already happy existence.

But we knew that we could not just sit and watch endless streams of movies on television. We had to explore opportunities out there. We were still too young not to be engaged.

Once we started, we just kept going. We used our experience to create our consulting and did this for 20 years. We cannot even tell you how much we enjoyed it. Until now, we have friends and colleagues with whom we worked and shared life.

We would take contracts only scheduled for the winter months, which we wanted to avoid in Canada. Summer months were reserved for family. Our families lived in different parts of the world, so Summer became our particular time with each other.

Enough of my own experience. Now, back to you.

What image comes to you when retirement looms on your horizon? The end of fun? A quiet life? A trip somewhere? A life with family? Live your dream?

Most of us think of that day when we can do what we like. Often, we associate this with retirement. But I tell you honestly, many of us now retired sometimes feel that we still cannot do this. 

Yes, we find that our days are spent in countless little errands that by the time the day is over, there is no more time to do what we like other than stretch out and have that glass of wine. Does this count? Most of our friends will say yes. 

Of course, it depends on your own goal.

Many retirees enjoy doing little errands and taking care of grandchildren. Full-time grandmas fill up their time, and this is their life. 

I know many of my friends do this, and they enjoy it. They accompany their grandchildren to their swimming practice and piano lessons or bring them to school. It depends on what you want to do. 

My husband is not the only one. We just worked with someone who is 73 years old and already had three heart attacks. He loves to collect rare ceramics in blue, and he works to be able to buy the more expensive ones, which may overstretch his retirement pension.

Younger people now work harder and smarter to reach a much younger age to retire and live the lifestyle they want. Others declare early retirement and live it NOW.

The style you choose to live your retirement depends on you. Many people now retire early. Once they have achieved their commitment and goals, they’re gone. But many continue to get engaged. My husband retired when he was 53.

He was one of those lucky ones to have that freedom at such a young age, but he continued working until he passed on at 75. This time, he was doing what he liked. He was no longer responsible for an organization, so the stress was less, and he enjoyed what he was doing.

How will you live your retirement?

The quality of your retirement will largely depend on the plan you have laid out, not when you’re about to retire but early in your life. 

There are retirement concerns you can plan for, but you will only discover others when you are retired. But planning for the ones you know will help you deal with those concerns that you only find out as you live your retirement.

The good news is you have more wisdom to deal with these challenges, so look forward to these as opportunities to expand your life. Having these challenges may still be the best thing to ever happen to you.

Chase your Passion at Retirement: Kick Start a Hobby

The voyage to retirement is often much better than the reality of arriving and sitting on your duff waiting to turn off the switch!  

While the Senior years can be a dream world which most of us eagerly anticipate, their arrival can be a bit of a let-down. I’ll bet you have friends with too much time on their hands, bored, restless, and ultimately less content than they were when dreaming of the vintage years’ sunny beaches.

Hobbies, whether they’re low-key or reach-for-the-stars, are one of the best and most time-honoured ways to “de-retire” or at least ward off the “it’s all over blues”. 

In fact, many retirees credit their hobbies with keeping them young…or at least keeping them alive! Look next to you. If your Grumpy is sliding up to retirement with no real activities in the planning bag, act now. An active Grumpy is a joy compared with a gnarled couch spud parked in a broken lawn chair!

One of our friends clearly said that she can listen to her husband talk about his collections for up to 30 minutes but beyond that, she just can’t do it so she wants her husband to volunteer in a museum. There, he can share about his knowledge and people will appreciate it.

We laughed when our friend shared this but we are in the same boat. I used to teasingly ask my husband when we walk in our city streets who would be his next victim. Once he engages the person to a conversation, the person is doomed. Unless, the person is able to extricate himself, it could take a good amount of time.

How to Choose a Hobby

No hobby? No problem – choosing one is exciting, and couldn’t be simpler. Remember back in high school, when a counsellor asked you what you would do for a living if you didn’t have to worry about money? Now’s the time to indulge that passion! 

If you find yourself stuck, there are several things you can try. Asking your buddies is a great way to go and watching their activities for ideas. What draws your interest.? What really gets you excited? They may provide answers that surprise you! 

Sitting down and letting your mind drift is another great way to choose a hobby. Don’t let Grumpy do this one…he’ll simply doze off!  What do you daydream about? Where does your mind go, during the course of a normal day, when you’re not focused on an activity? These can be excellent indicators of the territory where you’ll find a hobby you’ll truly love. 

If all else fails, you can try researching hobbies online. You’re not the only one ‘stuck’ trying to find engagement.  You’ll find many a wild range of ideas stuck together by desperate oldies that refuse to rust out, including lists of things to try in order to discover a pastime. 

These ‘mini’ hobby lists often ask you to try one activity for just a few hours. In most cases, you’ll know right away if a particular activity is something you’ll enjoy. From chess to car repair, knitting to gardening all the way to bird watching (the feathered kind…keep Grumpy glued!)

Revitalizing a Current Hobby 

Perhaps you already have a hobby, but your enthusiasm has flagged over the years. If you still feel a basic interest in this particular activity, there are plenty of ways to revitalize that yesteryear hobby and make it feel brand-new!  (Ahhh..if only we could do that with our Grumpies!)

Gardening is, perhaps, one of the most popular hobbies for people of all ages. In fact, it’s even becoming trendy! As a result, there are resources out there which you may never have considered. Your area may have a community garden, a place where locals volunteer their time. 

A friend of ours who also happens to be our doctore decided to fold up her practice and do gardening. She has never been happier. Everyday, she dances in her fields as she looks forward to the produce she can enjoy. What agreat way to destress your life.

The resulting bounty is usually either enjoyed during communal meals or donated to a local food bank. How about a herb patch on a balcony or a few butterfly magnet flowers close to your door.

If you’d rather garden closer to home, why not try something completely new? Try your hand at heirlooms – these unbelievably delicious and brightly-coloured varieties haven’t changed a bit for (often) over one hundred years!  It’s better to grow heirlooms than become one.

Perhaps you’ve always enjoyed fishing on weekends and holidays. Now’s the perfect time to upgrade your equipment, try out an undiscovered fishing spot, or even take a fishing vacation! Experienced guides are available all over the world, whether you’re after walleye or sharks! Listen to an audiobook while dangling your line.

I used to love painting but did not have much time to hone in my skills. Now, I have time and I enjoy learning how to use the different media from watercolours to oils and acrylics. It helps in dealing with boredom and loneliness as well as gives direction to one’s days.

Some of my Senior friends learn new skills like sewing and enjoy creating clothes for themselves. It is only when you try several possibilities that you discover what really makes you feel alive and happy. So, keep trying out new hobbies until you settle on one that really makes your days worth looking forward to.

Some Seniors even earn from their hobbies. I met two Seniors when I visited Quebec City. One is a painter and he has a stall right in the tourist area of Quebec City and he uses his talent to paint people. My friend and I had ourselves painted and we enjoyed the experience so much. I think we also put smiles in the faces of people passing and looking at us.

The other one loves to sing and she sings in a park close to the famous Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. She even has records of her songs that she sells to those who love listening to her. Not only does she earn, she also makes so many people happy as they stop, sit in one of the benches and sing along with her. Some tourists even dance as they listen to her. What a wonderful way to live one’s Senior years.

Regardless of your current hobby, the same principles can be applied. Do a bit of research and build on an activity you already enjoy. This will give your hobby a new life, and lend some real excitement to your retirement!  Grumpy loves birds and spends time whistling in the garden in full communication. Bird feeders…baths…..birdhouses…a whirling inferno of feathered tweeters.  Having a hobby is everything!

Make your Senior Years a Golden Dream


Thirty-five years of working for “the man” and the feet are going up. 

I am outta here! Life plan? No kidding, it’s retirement. 

The money is just about enough…the debts are nil…..I’ve done fairly well….. give me my parachute!

Getting to the magic age when we can say goodbye to our 9-5 job and enjoy our freedom is a big golden dream that carries many folks through employment thick and thin. Lawyer, manager, caretaker or caregiver…the vision carries us on.

As we work our hours and pay our retirement and pension plans, we look forward to this like a desert hiker looks forward to a glass of water. Schemes and dreams as we build the means and endless panting blather to whoever will listen. 

The plan is solid…..we think, without realizing that we are just focusing on the financial part of retirement and forgetting what we really need is a life plan.


How is retirement like?

Having fun yet?

Are you enjoying your retirement?


The dream is thinning like a New England fog. A massive billboard comes up on the Life Highway with an Uncle Sam like finger-pointing at our forehead saying “YOU ARE BORED”.

OK…something part-time so I don’t have to stare at the dog 24/7. Not so easy. 

We can hardly find jobs even at the burger-flipping level because there are so many young ones in line ahead. 

Even volunteer jobs are tough to find as students compete to complete their community involvement points required by most schools. 

Try to get an extra street to canvass in the annual Stroke and Heart door to door and the granny mafia will attack with umbrellas.

Some have gone online, opened a blog and are doing very well.  (Thank goodness for WordPress and its ilk). Others build trains, fly miniature planes, paint and sculpt or just become pests as an unwanted neighbourhood watch peeking out their windows.

Each of us has a different experience. I have friends who are very happy working in their garden, doing crafts, becoming full-time grandparents and washing their cars.

Some have gone online, opened a blog and are doing very well. Others build trains, fly miniature planes, paint and sculpt or just become pests as an unwanted neighbourhood watch peeking out their windows.

Did you have a life plan for retirement? Below are some of the varied answers we get:

Yes, I planned very well my life after retiring from my job

No, I just wanted out, I did not even bother to think about it

I had dreams of things I wanted to do but did not really plan for it

I had ideas but that’s all

Bismarck, the master planner of 65 as the key retirement age didn’t talk much about life planning as he assumed we would all be dead at 67. (He was right in the late 19th century). A lifetime of bad food, dangerous jobs and quixotic health care usually didn’t result in a long leisurely retirement.

The world then was a bad Dickens novel with brutish and short as key descriptors of life. This does not seem to be true now when people are still healthy when they retire and hang on for 2 decades or more before eternity.

The first day…..the first month….maybe the first six months……”man…this is livin'” After a year in retirement, when we have read books till we Kindle Callused and played golf/tennis/tai chi till the image palled. 

When you have visited all the places on your bucket list and listened to Bach until your eyes were crossed…. so many retirees, yourself included, realize that the books look blurred, the games are slow motion and the travel budget is competing with the insurance bills. Hmmmmmm. 

7 Reasons to Celebrate Ageing

Celebrating Ageing
Celebrating Ageing in a Song

Ageing with anger is a specialty of Irish poets, American novelists and, ah, maybe, Indian pilots. For the rest of us, ageing can be an absolute joy.


If we’re fortunate, a sense of grace falls over us. Although enigmatic smiles sometimes betray indigestion or even secret flatulence, they can also suggest that we’ve come to terms with our lives, that we can live with our histories, that we’re not competitive in our legacies and that the world is not only the place to be but by far the best.


Money could be a part of this, but looking at poor villagers in any Asian country, the smile of peace is there; the sense of being a part of a family’s history and its endless future has brought watchful contentment. 


Here are a few key reasons that ageing can be a blessing:


1. We enjoy life

Laughing at our own and others’ foibles leads to curious glances from others, but it can make an average day a good one.

My friend recently told me that sometimes, while doing something as ordinary as cleaning her house, she stops and enjoys feeling really happy. We seldom felt this before, if we ever did. We were so busy with living that we did not have time to pause and feel our joy.

But now, we have the time to savour whatever we feel; better still, whatever we think, they no longer threaten us. Life has taught us that nothing stays. The next moment, it’s going to be different. Everything turns for the good.

2. We celebrate what we have 

We climbed the mountains; we poked around in a few depths, and we can now relax and stop wrestling with missed promises.

We have nothing to prove. We’ve gone beyond that. You have not grown if you are still trying to outdo your friends. By this time, your friends know you well and accept you as you are, so relax and get yourself and enjoy life by just being you.

Some in our circle of Seniors have not yet reached this moment of self-acceptance. They still try to prove they are somebody, so they get stressed over little things that do not support their image of themselves. They do everything to prove they are better than anyone else and pressure their kids to enhance their image. But because we really can’t control circumstances and people like our kids, we get frustrated and eventually depressed.

With depression comes poor health and sickness. It’s our way of manipulating people and events. Our Senior years must not be like this. It must be enjoyed and lived joyfully. Let the cares and concerns of our earlier lives go and embrace what is, enjoy it and cherish whatever you have.

Nothing like the breath of life felt every morning could compare to all these concerns. Enjoy every day. Remember, we have a limited supply of these, so enjoy every moment.

3. We accept our shortcomings

In our 40s and 50s, mirrors are a tragedy. As we age and gently become self-caricatures, not just physically but emotionally, our weaknesses fit nicely with what we’ve become.

No longer do we have shortcomings. We realize that shortcomings are part of life and will always be there. We know this from experience, so we can now laugh when we look at them. We can’t deny the aching body, the stooping posture, the wrinkled face, the constant reminder of arthritis, and the blurred vision. We do something about them, but we don’t let these stop us from enjoying our lives.

Yes, what we have become is what we celebrate in our Senior years. When we look at each of us, we can observe so many things in our last 60, 70, 80 or 90 years of life. Just as we have reached this age alive, we should be happy. This, alone, is reason to celebrate.

4. We have clearer priorities mainly because we don’t have so many of them. 

We have time and space to focus on what is essential, whether learning family or sports nostalgia or the craziness of politics. We can pick our spots. Besides, age has made us realize that only a few things matter. The many things we pursued when we were younger no longer have the same intensity in our Senior years.

5. We accept our grumpiness and go and hide when we feel it coming on. 

The random savaging of children, grandchildren and trim adherents is at last controlled.

Age has taught us that most things can be managed. Also, we have less stress, so very few things worry us. We have reached an age when we know we can no longer do much, so we let go.

6. We embrace everything that we are

More searching for who we are? We’ve stopped that. We have accepted who we are, knowing it or not.

I remember the angst of my younger years when we were driven by learning what careers fit us, what I do with my life, how I could improve myself, what job would be fun for me and many more. Now, I laugh at the fact that I still don’t really know myself at my age and will never fully know as it reveals more each time I think I have a handle on what I am.

7. Most importantly, we can reflect on our lives and the ages we’ve lived through.

Even if our own story is not filled with drama, the headlines, achievements, and tragedies of the world that have been our companion can consume hours of review and end with some tentative conclusions or insights that, if we’re cautious, we can sell to the young as wisdom.


So, ageing is not the only thing we have ahead of us. It may also be the best time of your life.

7 Ways for Seniors to Be Organic

Eat clean. We hear this all the time. We all know we should eat right, and today, that often means choosing organic foods instead of commercially grown, pesticide-laden options.

Seniors Going Organic
Garden in the MET Cloister

However, for those living on a fixed income, the high costs of organic foods can become an obstacle. Only though if you let high cost stop you. There are other ways you can enjoy organic food without making a dent in your budget. Try these:

1. Seasonal Shopping
2. The “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” 
3. Frozen Options 
4. Understanding Eggs 
5. Wild-Caught and Grass-Fed
6. Understanding GMOs
7. Organic Vegetable Garden

The best way, of course, is to plant your own vegetables. Even urban dwellers are now trying their best to do this. 

There are balconies and rooftops for those who have no outside plots. Start small and build it. Window sills will do. When we stayed in serviced apartments working in Asia, I often filled our sills with pots laden with herbs which I can easily snip and add to smoothies and dishes. 

Now, in our condo here in downtown Toronto, I still plant herbs and greens I can snip to add to smoothies or salads. If it is important, we do find ways of making it happen. 

1. Seasonal Shopping
Shopping according to the seasons is a great way to not only obtain organically grown produce at lower prices but to add a greater variety of produce to your diet. 

Certain produce is locally available only at specific times during the year. However, thanks to commercial farming and preservation methods like canning and freezing, we have access to virtually any vegetable or fruit throughout the year. This is great for convenience, and there’s nothing wrong with quality canned or frozen produce. 

Shopping according to the seasons, however, allows you to obtain the highest nutrient value for the least amount of money. 

Often, this has to do with how far they are transported and how thin their skins are. Clean 15, on the other hand, is a list of foods which, although organic is always best, can usually be regarded as ‘safe’ in terms of pesticide levels.

The MET Cloister Garden
TheNew York MET Cloister Garden

Fresh produce is nearly always higher in vitamins, minerals and bio-nutrients than canned or frozen varieties. By purchasing these items – either from a farmers’ market or the organic section of your supermarket – you’ll be getting more nutritional bang for your buck. 

2. The “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” 
These easy-to-remember guidelines refer to specific foods. The Dirty Dozen consists of foods which, for a variety of reasons, are usually loaded with pesticides. 

Dirty Dozen – Apples, Celery, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Grapes, Hot Peppers, Nectarines (imported), Peaches, Potatoes, Spinach, Strawberries, Sweet Peppers, Greens and Summer Squash. 

Clean 15 – Asparagus, Avocados, Cabbage, Cantaloupe, Sweet Corn, Eggplant, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Mangoes, Mushrooms, Onions, Papayas, Pineapples, Sweet Peas (frozen) and Sweet Potatoes. 

With a list in hand, you can make more informed decisions at the supermarket. Spend a bit more on the Dirty Dozen by purchasing organically while choosing traditional Clean 15 options.

3. Frozen Options 
As freezing methods improve, more produce options are available in the freezer case. 

These options are superior to canned produce in terms of nutrient density, and many organic varieties are available. 

Look for flash-frozen whenever possible; this method preserves the highest levels of nutrients. 

4. Understanding Eggs 
Eggs are an excellent source of protein, but the type of eggs you buy is important. 

Commercially raised eggs are typically loaded with antibiotics, due to the filthy, cramped living conditions of chickens. As a result, these eggs may contain things you don’t’ want in your own body. 

The term ‘free-range’ is a step up, but, thanks to loopholes in the guidelines which regulate farming, these chickens are also living in dirty, cramped areas – the only difference is they have a small outdoor pen. 

To obtain the most responsible, healthiest eggs, choose ‘pastured.’ This term indicates that the chickens which produced the eggs are allowed to roam freely and feed on a wide – and natural – variety of insects and grains. As a result, they require fewer (or no) antibiotics, and their eggs are believed to be higher in nutrients. 

5. Wild-Caught and Grass-Fed
You may have seen these labels on fish and meat selections. Although labelling regulations aren’t as strict as they might be, these are generally good indications that the product was caught or raised responsibly. 

In general, wild-caught and grass-fed options are considered to be safer, due to their lower (or nonexistent) antibiotic levels. They are also typically higher in nutrients. 

Remember to always look for labels which specifically state “USDA Organic,” “Antibiotic Free” and “Pesticide Free.” You may see all three on the same product, although “USDA Organic” indicates that no antibiotics or pesticides were used in production. This includes the grass and feed livestock are raised on, and even the soil in which that grass and feed were grown. 

While these options typically cost more, switching to a diet with more vegetables and less protein can help to offset the costs. 

6. Understanding GMOs
You may have seen GMO-Free on food labels recently – this is due to a consumer backlash regarding the use of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). These hybrid plants are believed by many to present risks to humans, simply because they are not natural and may encourage a host of unhealthy side effects such as tumour growth and excess estrogen production. 

Purchasing GMO-Free options, whenever possible, is a great way to safeguard against the largely unknown potential effects of consuming GMOs.

Vegetable Garden in Monticello
Vegetable Garden in Monticello

7. An Organic Vegetable Garden
Nothing can beat your own organic vegetable garden. This will supply you the best produce to eat. The produce will also be very fresh so not only will they be delicious but also much more healthy. 

Gardening will also make you more active contributing to your overall health. The joy you derive from watching your plants grow and giving you fruits make it all worthwhile. Start now. 

Introducing Seniors Futures

617 million are 65 or older. This data was first published in 2015 so the numbers have gone up. This is projected to increase to 1.6 billion by 2050, about 17% of the world’s population (An Ageing World, National Institute on Aging).

Because there are so many Seniors now, interest in what engages them and what interesting topics catch their attention have gone up. We Seniors should be happy and get engage with these interesting discussions.

This significant development on Seniors bring with it joys, wisdom, opportunities and plenty of challenges as the body starts its decline and the mind wanders off to memory lane.

There are many opportunities as well. I don’t think I can think of any other periods in history most comfortable for Seniors to be in. To go out, we have our own driver, Uber or Lyft. Any good we want to buy can be delivered straight to our doors. We have all kinds of researches on Seniors being done and medical professionals and caregivers to take care of our health.

This is the most significant area this site will highlight so Seniors can be on top of these recent development and understand its implications and applications to their own lives.

Not many of us lived healthier lives as we got into the challenges of our times so we now experience the results of that. We can’t hide them. The lines and contours show them well. Thus, this site.

Seniors Futures is a site conceived to dig deeper into the developments Seniors grapple with. From Finance, to Travel, to Grandparenting, to Health, to Style, Seniors face many new developments that can overwhelm them.

This site helps to make sense of all these developments and discuss some of these more thoroughly in more understandable ways.

I am Mary Norton and I have a Ph.D. in Organizational Development. I have seen in my work how many Seniors are now leaving the workplace. Lost after the structured life in the workplace, many walk around listlessly hoping someone would engage them.

Before, the engagement was there with the job, they had somewhere to go and something to do. Now, some find meaningful ways to respond to the new reality. Others, get lost and are unable to make sense of this new context.

As I am a Senior now, I get more interested in what my friends and colleagues share about ageing and growing old. Moreover, I go through these developments myself and like many of my Senior friends, we laugh at it many times as we share many of our Senior moments. At the same time, we worry about what the future holds. We get upset at things we don’t understand or find hard to understand.

In addition to the new reality, new technologies come and leave us unable to use many of its features. Just read the news on how predators on the Net prey on older people. It is upsetting.

The younger ones find these developments fun and make their lives easy but for us, Seniors, just finding our way to using many of these new technologies take several sessions with grandchildren.

So, to respond to this worry, we discuss these matters, read on these and seek confirmation in our own experience. This is what we want to share with you in this site.

This is not a scholarly site nor does it contain expert medical advice. No, the posts here are just the sharing of Seniors of what they go through. We hope that you will get involved more actively by making comments or sharing your own experience in the matters discussed in some of the posts.

It is our hope that we can build a community of Seniors willing to share and contribute to the discussion. You are invited to share and be part of our community. Your experience will be valuable to building a knowledge bank for Seniors.