Change in Later Life is Inevitable

There is one thing constant in the world and that is change. This is especially true for the later stages of life when change speeds up for us again as it did when we were very young. The key is to be accepting of continued changes and to stay as flexible and adaptable as possible.

If not before, acceptance, flexibility and adaptability should start when you make your later life move. The perfect wall plaque would read, "So this isn't home, sweet, home - ADAPT!" How true this is! For many older adults, making a later life move is one of the biggest changes they have faced in many, many years.

And this change is even bigger for those in the current older generation because it's the first time many have ever lived in a communal situation (i.e., living in a building where others reside, eating in a shared dining room, etc.) No, living in this setting is not the same as living in your own single-family home but there are great benefits to having others close by for friendship and support at this time of life. Enjoy the advantages of your new home and adjust and adapt to the rest.

There should be a similar wall plaque to remind older adults to deal with the changes they see in themselves and their abilities. It would read: "So you're not what you were 30 years ago - ADJUST!" The key is to not beat up on yourself for what you can no longer do or handle physically, emotionally or mentally.

For those who live through the entire life cycle (into their 80s, 90s, or 100), many will need some form of active support and assistance. The key is to remember that it is not only acceptable to want or need help and support as we age - it's perfectly natural. Believe that it's okay to allow others to help you.

Last but not least, death is inevitable in the later stages of life. The mortality rate for our species is still 100% and the odds that you will die keep increasing the older you get. Death is never easy to accept but I believe that it should be easier to accept the death of someone who lived to a ripe old age.

Death is the final and ultimate transition in our lives and should be accepted and seen as a natural part of the cycle of life. Planning and preparing for this transition shows deep respect and consideration on your part for your friends and family members, and can also leave you with a feeling of completeness and peace.

Accept that change is a constant factor throughout life. Make peace with the changes in your life and accept the changes to free up space to enjoy and appreciate the positive aspects of aging.

Sue Ronnenkamp is author of Living Transitions: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making a Later Life Move. For more information, check out www.livingtransitions.com.

Think Unique for Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day spending topping $13 billion annually, many consumers are willing to prove their love with their pocketbooks. And they want to "say it" with gifts that last longer than cut flowers and are more meaningful too.

Try these ideas:

1. Make a memory. Some of the best, non-traditional gifts are experiences. Go for a walk on the beach, take breakfast to a park, see a spring training game together. Think outside the candy box or vase of roses.
2. Involve friends and family. A special Valentine's Day treat could be an unexpected trip to visit family, a surprise weekend getaway for a spouse and his or her friends. Go with another couple to Steinhatchee Landing or St. Augustine.
3. Make an improvement. Think home improvements, maybe a custom carved door (JELD-WEN Company does this type of thing. Call (877) 535-3462 for their information).
4. Support a worthy cause. With the increasing emphasis on heart health, especially for women, many national nonprofit organizations offer gift items that give back.
5. Personalize it. Whether the gift is a diamond or a door, add an element to the gift itself that symbolizes the recipient as a person or relates to his or her life experience.
6. Start a new hobby. Check for dance lessons, geocaching, singing lessons, piano lessons, etc.
7. Buy tickets. Put tickets in a pretty Valentine. Think concerts, stage plays, day spas, massages, movies. If you don't want to go with him/her, give two and let the other person take a friend.

(ARA)

Hike the Canadian Rockies for Splendor

When you're ready to hike remote and spectacular trails and yet enjoy a shower and comfortable bed at the end of the day, then it's time to go north to the Canadian Rockies. And some of the most beautiful hikes are accessible only by helicopter.

Using helicopters to reach hiking areas in summer and early autumn (and heli-skiing for winter) are among the latest "cool" trips for those looking for outdoor adventure couched in comfort. Throw in gourmet meals, a masseuse on duty and pleasant company, and voila! It's the ultimate vacation.

Don't hike? Go for the quiet days in the lodge. From the lodge, you have maybe a thousand square miles of Alpine meadow to look at.

My trip took me by air to Calgary and then by rental car for three hours via the Trans Canada Highway through Banff National Park to the little town of Golden, British Columbia, where a helicopter lifted twelve hikers over breathtaking "Sound of Music" mountain scenes to Purcell Mountain Lodge at 7,200 feet elevation.

I was high in the mountains without that agonizing uphill hike (which I would not have been able to accomplish anyway).

Our first hike started an hour after arrival - a trail through alpine flowers in a large circle around the lodge. We marveled at the tiny blooms: Western anemones, paintbrush, and pink, white and yellow heather. Battered small fir trees stunted by harsh winters dotted the landscape amid outcroppings of rock.

Our trained guides, Christina and Harmony, watched all of us on this hike to determine important hiking factors regarding flexibility, endurance and overall ability.

Mornings during the trip, two groups formed, one around each guide. One group took easier hikes of five to ten miles staying on the upper broad alpine meadows making gradual 200-foot elevation changes. The other group took more challenging hikes up mountains with names like Copperstein and Ptarmigian. I took the less challenging hike each time.

The first day's hike rambled across broad expanses of meadow and up to a peak known as Kneegrinder (an apt name!) with stops to adjust packs, clothes and shoes as needed. Snow patches still covered some of the rises. The snow had a pink cast to it, and at the guide's suggestion we sniffed it to discover that it is an algae that smells like watermelon. Patches of loose shale often required careful footing.

If we walked where there was no trail, we learned to spread out so that only one footstep would ever be made in one place. The grass is so fragile that it takes years and years to recover from damage.

At lunch, rather than gather in small clusters to talk, we each chose spots of our own to sit and drink in the beauty and solitude. There were no sounds but the wind and an occasional bird.

On a hike to the top of Bella Vista each of us added a rock to the cairn started by hikers years ago. Later, on the side of a miles-broad expanse of meadow having walked with the warm sun on our backs, our day packs came off to be used as head rests as we turned our faces to the sun for a nap before the final miles to the Lodge.

Each guide carried a two-way radio connected to the Lodge. Not only was this a reassuring safety factor, but it also allowed Christina to let the staff know when to expect us at the lodge so they could start the wood fire in the sauna. Ah, what a way to relax tired muscles.

Right from the start it was obvious this was not a weight-loss hiking situation. Hiking, I reasoned, justified eating the lavish breakfasts and gourmet dinners. Homemade whole-grain breads were available with every meal, for snacks and with appetizers.

After breakfast, meats, cheeses, veggies, fruits, breads and spreads were available for hikers to create their own bag lunches to take along for lunch on the hikes.

There was hot soup waiting when we came in from hikes (African yam and peanut soup, potato and leek, etc.); at 5:30 we had appetizers. And then there was dinner which was always spectacular!

Purcell Mountain Lodge is accessible only by helicopter and set in British Columbia's largest alpine meadow. It is the ultimate in comfort in its beds, ample pillows, convenient bathrooms, and lounge areas for socialization. There are shelves of reference books on area birds, plants, animals and mountains as well as a library in the upstairs lounge for leisure reading.

One day I did not go out on a hike. I read, sat on the wide porch which circles the lodge (and hoped a bear would come to a safe distance for a photo op) and napped.

Trip participants answered that question by saying: "Because we don't know how much longer we'll be able to do this kind of thing. We wanted creature comforts and no hassle. We wanted luxury hiking with the trail head at the door." "Hiking a long day and coming home to a tent is not my idea of fun any more." "I come for the challenge." "To get away where there are no phones." "Just for the nature."

At Purcell, visitors take their own gear from silk underwear to hats and gloves, and from boots to jackets. Prices given do not include transportation to and from the helipad at Golden.

It is a splendid way to hike.

info@purcellmountainlodge.com - 250.344.2639

Want Contentment? Hold to Your Religion!

Older individuals who are religious have a significantly enhanced quality of life in old age than nonreligious older Americans, and are more generous and less afraid of death than their less religious peers, according to new research by Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire.

Based on longitudinal research conducted by Dillon and Paul Wink, professor of psychology at Wellesley College, religiousness plays a significant role in enhancing the quality of life in old age, even among seniors who are economically well off, and in good physical and mental health.

Religious seniors are more involved in social activities such as visiting with family and friends, altruistic community activities and creative activities such as painting and craftwork.

When it comes to social responsibility and civic engagement, religious seniors are more giving and generous toward others, more aware of and sympathetic to the needs of others, and more involved in social activism (e.g. on behalf of homelessness, the environment), according to Dillon.

On the health front, the researchers found religious seniors in poor health were buffered against depression because of their religious involvement.

"For many in the study, their faith provided a strong source of meaning and consolation during illness and other times of adversity. Religious individuals also were more satisfied with life and had a stronger sense of having control over their lives than their nonreligious peers," Dillon says.

Finally, those who were highly religious were the least afraid of dying; those who were moderately religious were the most afraid. Secular seniors had a similarly low fear of death.

"Religious individuals who believe in an afterlife and who attend church on a frequent basis are less afraid of death than those who believe in an afterlife but who don't attend church," Dillon says. "In short, when it comes to warding off fear of the Grim Reaper, an individual's beliefs must be consistent with their practices - believe in an afterlife and go to church or don't believe in an afterlife and don't go to church."

Dillon and Wink's research is based on a long-term study that has followed the lives of close to 200 men and women who were born in Northern California in the 1920s. Participants were interviewed in depth during adolescence and four times in adulthood: 1958 in their 30s, 1970 in their 40s, 1982 in their 50s, and 1997-2000 when they were in their late 60s and mid-70s.

Most of the participants came from mainline Protestant families (73 percent), though the sample includes a sizeable number of Catholics and conservative Protestants. Almost all are white and middle class. In old age, most were happily married, in good health, well satisfied with their lives and engaged in a wide range of personal hobbies and social activities.