Baby Boomer Going Like Sixty

Don’t be Festus

As you grow older, it may become easy to neglect your personal and mental health – that’s only natural. But it’s so important to still practice self-care, even when you’ve over 50 or retired from work. So why is this such an essential part of life? And how can you practice in your everyday routine? 

Here are 5 key reasons why you should prioritize it and some examples of techniques you can use:

It Helps with Stress Management

Even if you’ve retired, life can still be very stressful. And this stress can lead to serious health issues – such as depression and anxiety. Because of this, it’s important to practice self-care in your everyday routine. 

Promoting relaxation and rejuvenation – whether you do it through reading your favorite book, watching a film, going on a relaxing walk in the countryside or another fun activity, it will help to boost your happiness and prevent such problems from occurring in the future. If there are signs of it, you can, however, seek medical advice from a professional who will guide you as to the most suitable treatment.

This mental stimulation is also important in keeping the mind engaged and active in your later years. Unfortunately, a prominent part of aging is memory loss. To try and promote better mental functionality, puzzles, crosswords, jigsaws, etc. can be used. By including these types of activities in your daily routine, you’ll ensure that your mind is kept sharp.

It Boosts Your Physical Health

Self-care isn’t just important for your mental health – it’s also a vital way of ensuring that you’re physically healthy in the long run. By taking a step back and caring for yourself first, your physical health will get an undeniable beneficial enhancement. 

Although as you grow older there are certain health conditions and issues that you can be susceptible to, that doesn’t mean that you should not try and prevent these from happening earlier on. Caring for your body and mind, through exercise and physical activity are valid ways of reducing the risk that anyone can do. 

It Improves Your Self-Esteem 

Although some people are able to create and maintain a healthy relationship with themselves earlier on in life, not everyone can successfully do this. So to help with it, prioritize self-care each and every day. Recognizing that you are just as important as others, it will produce positive feelings that improve your self-esteem in the long term. 

Self-esteem starts at home. And while others’ opinions might still affect this, having the confidence in yourself initially is incredibly beneficial.

It Ensures You Live Life to the Full

Just because you’re over 50, it doesn’t mean that life is nearly over for you. So start living and stop existing. Life is so precious and taken for granted, so there’s no point in wasting it. 

Take every day how it comes and enjoy whatever activity you are able to do. Yes, age comes with some physical limitations, but by looking at it positively and caring for yourself, there’s no reason why the next 30/40/50 years can’t be amazing.

Little things like treating yourself to a vacation every now and then, giving yourself a makeover (with Cheap Dentures that look great) and socializing with friends or family can make a big impact on your mood and physical health. This is so important once you’ve retired and you don’t have the work-life balance you got used to over the years. Even though you might not know how to fill your days at first, over time, you’ll soon have plenty of fun things to keep you occupied. 

It Increases Your Productivity 

Following on from the above, by taking care of yourself, you’ll feel more productive in your everyday life. Yes, retirement has the perk of giving you the freedom to do whatever you want with your time, but some days you might not feel the incentive to get out of bed and make the most out of the day.

Which is where self-care comes in. By practicing this, you’ll feel more motivated each day and enjoy every moment. Giving you a positive outlook every day, you’ll never waste a single day.

Self Care in Covid-19

Unfortunately, the world has had to face the horrors of this global pandemic. And because of this, many people have been left feeling isolated from the outside world that exists just beyond their front door. This is why it’s more important now than ever to practice self-care each day. 

As part of this, thankfully, because of technology, there are ways that you can stay in contact with loved ones. From using technology such as Zoom to emails, you can catch up with your friends and family across the world. This will undeniably help to boost your spirit and make you feel better about things. 

Even though we’re still having to cope with the virus and there’s no denying that it will still be around for a while, by trying to promote self-care, it will make it feel more bearable. By staying in contact, it will also get you excited about the future when things start to go back to normal. 

As well as keeping in contact via certain technology, you can spend this time doing activities that you’ve likely been putting off and just spending some quality time with those in your house or by yourself. Whatever you do during this time, as long as you’re staying safe, the sweeter life will feel when it goes back to the way it was prior to the pandemic – which will happen even if it doesn’t feel likely at the moment! 

Final Thoughts

There you go, those are just 5 of the reasons why you should try and prioritize self-care after 50. All valid reasons in themselves, it’s essential to not ignore their importance in the long run. It’s clear that to live your best life, self-care, no matter what form it takes should be practiced and always at the forefront of your mind.

To say that COVID-19 has changed how we live over the past several months is an understatement by now. Those of us who have been following the recommended precautions, staying indoors, distancing ourselves wearing masks, and being as cautious as we can know that. However, it’s not wise to assume that everything will go back to “normal” once the risk is over for now. In fact, not everyone wants it to go back to what normal was.

Here, let’s take a closer look at what some are saying about the way that COVID-19 might change the world that we live in. Not just for now or the immediate future, but how might it change how we live years from now when the risk is seemingly over and done with?

How we work

One of the most drastic and concerning changes that have occurred already is in the workplace. To put it simply, a lot of people have already experienced layoffs and lost businesses as a result of the virus. Others are being furloughed with pay, but with no real assurances of security that their job might be there when things open up again. While small businesses and some self-employed workers are getting protections to help them through the pandemic, that does not mean that they are out of the woods. 

Many predict that COVID-19 will lead to another recession, that leads to another round of business closures, job losses, and an increasing reliance on the gig economy that offers very few protections for workers.

For those who are still in work or will be returning to work, we are very likely to see a major transformation due to the remote working trend that is taking over. Businesses were already starting to make the transition to remote working, but the lockdown served as a catalyst that sped that transformation significantly. As such, a much larger number of people are willing to remain remote even as offices open their doors again and business owners are starting to see the benefits and that risks of lower productivity were overblown.

How we travel

One of the biggest factors in the spread of COVID-19 this time was the fact that people who had been infected were able to take the virus from country to country with little to stop them. Borders were locked down but, in many cases, it was too late. As such, when travel does start to open up again, it is likely to come with restrictions that will remain long after the danger is passed. This might include longer security and check-in procedures with the use of thermal detecting cameras and a need for proof of immunization or negative testing.

It is also likely that some countries will remain on lockdown due to the virus for a lot longer. When looking at how to travel, people will have to get used to checking ahead of time to see what restrictions are still in place for the country they want to go to. For instance, some countries might only be open to accepting air travel from essential workers or from citizens while remaining closed to tourists.

How we socialize

We have all had to deal with the shrinking of our social circles, to some degree, as a result of COVID-19. Many of us have not seen close friends and family for months beyond facetime on digital devices. In most countries, people are being permitted to see their families again, but it’s anticipating that remaining anxieties from coronavirus will affect how we socialize for a long time to come. For instance, people are less likely to hug, kiss, or otherwise have physical contact.

How we shop

In many places, shops and hospitality businesses are starting to slowly and experimentally open back up, allowing people onto their premises. However, most of the businesses reopening and doing so very tentatively, with an eye on reducing the risk of infection as best as possible. For instance, in most retail spaces, social distancing rules are being implemented which will include having to line up to get in. A lot of stores are only allowing a certain number of people in at a time.

In the hospitality industry, we are likely to see major shifts towards providing a safer and more hygienic stay. This will include changes to best practices from the staff, such as more extensive cleaning practices and training for team members. However, it is also likely to include stricter hygiene rules for guests at hotels and BNBs, as well.

How we provide healthcare

Health care was already a hot button topic for a lot of people well before a global pandemic landed on our doorstep. However, the spread of COVID-19 disrupted and proved the shortcomings of health care systems all across the globe, not just domestically. As such, from private insurance-driven systems to public options that are severely underfunded, a lot of attention is likely to remain on health care. As such, future elections may become even more centralized on the topic of health care, with more people advocating for stronger socialized medicine across the globe.

Furthermore, there is a serious risk related to the emotional and mental health of health care workers who were working during the COVID-19 crises. While there were several campaigns designed to show them appreciation and to thank them for their services, there has also been a spike in cases of health care workers being targets of abuse. The stress of working in health care during the pandemic has become a serious concern, as well, with many suggesting that there will be a spike of PTSD cases amongst health care workers as a result.

Rising tensions

People have largely found themselves on one of two camps following the COVID-19 outbreak. There are those who have been following the advice of health professionals across the globe and those who have not. The former see the latter as conspiracy-minded and irresponsible, while the latter see the risk as overblown or even manufactured. As a result, tensions that are already fraught due to issues of political polarization and topics like police brutality are seemingly being pushed even more to the limit. This may not only lead to more civil unrest in the future but could increasingly contribute to a wide-reaching mental health crisis.

The role of surveillance

Governments across the world have relied on different measures to tackle COVID-19 and to keep it from spreading as effectively as possible. One of the tools that have been used to do this, in particular, is surveillance. From symptom tracking apps to the installation of heat-sensing cameras in public places, there has been an undeniable race in surveillance technology used by some states, and this is concerning for some. While it has been undeniably used by some governments to reduce infections, there are concerns that more surveilling actions can increase the risk of totalitarian leaning regimes to strip privacy and rights away from citizens. Even if they are implemented for good reasons, some are concerned that such measures will become a norm that will be difficult to reverse.

The habits of hygiene

Though far from a positive result of the virus, there is no denying that people became a lot more aware of public hygiene practices as a result of COVID-19. Practices such as mask-wearing may have been exceedingly rare in Europe and the US before the virus, but were much more common in East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan. It is likely that many of the hygiene practices that we have implemented in our daily lives may be here to stay. Reduced hand-to-hand contact, more reliance on hand sanitizer, and people wearing masks may become part of daily life before too long. There are still those who are likely to refuse to take part in any of these practices, but they might become vanishingly rare as time goes on.

Could it be here to stay?

One of the biggest questions facing government and health care experts is whether or not we will ever truly be rid of the coronavirus. The current pandemic is a mutation of viruses that have been around before and there are concerns that it will come back again. As such, even if the pandemic ends entirely, we are likely to see new COVID viruses become a cause for concern in future, with efforts going towards developing new vaccines. Much like the flu, it might become a recurring risk, and as such, the safety practices in place might become semi-permanent. However, there is no concrete evidence that this will be the case, so we cannot say for sure if COVID will return.

No-one can really predict just how much COVID-19 is going to change about the way that we live. We’re still in the deep of it, after all. However, it is safe to assume that this is a majorly transformative time for all of us and that we might have to adapt to a new normal when all is said and done.