Buddy and I spent this first day of 2016 in typical New Year’s Day fashion: watching the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game on TV, and of course, putting our ‘not’ New Year’s Resolutions to the test!
Surprisingly, there is not much difference between the top New Year’s resolutions of 2015 and the popular resolutions made by those of us in retirement age! A few of the New Year’s resolutions you would expect involve health and wellness; and according to Nielson ratings, ‘staying fit and healthy’ resounded with a whopping 37% of our population with ‘losing weight’ coming in at #2 with 32%.
Other resolutions that made the top ten list last year include spending time with family and friends, traveling and reading more, learning something new and getting more organized. It was encouraging to learn that our resolutions don’t change too much as we grow older; however, I have listed a few unique ones I discovered for seniors/retired folks:
1. Get tech saavy– I’d say this would not generally be a New Year’s resolution for most of the generations younger than us! Who is brave enough to admit having trouble navigating through the basics of computer use, let alone, ‘hash tagging’ or ‘twittering’??
2. Age gracefully– being young and invincible isn’t all it’s cracked up to be! We now have laugh lines to proudly display(and cover up!) and years of wisdom to help guide our decision making. However, it does become quickly apparent what our bodies are physically capable and incapable of doing… well, most of the time!
3. Smile more– Let’s use our retirement free time to help make other folks’ lives a little better. Having a little more patience (everyone can use a little more patience- no matter what age!), lending a hand to someone in need, or volunteering for a non profit organization can be a great way to give a smile to someone else.
5. Work to prevent falls– Ouch(in more ways than one)! The CDC reports that millions of older adults fall and over 700,000 are hospitalized each year. I will choose to put this resolution under the ‘staying fit’ category and maintaining a regular exercise routine.
4. Pray for world peace– I found this to be an interesting New Year Resolution as most resolutions are focused on self improvement. Our world and all its leaders do need prayer for peace and unity.
5. Be around next year to make another resolution– This is the best resolution I’ve seen yet! I’m definitely adding this one to my list!
Buddy and I agreed to ‘not’ New Year’s resolutions- we are making a commitment to eat fruit and vegetables every day and maintain a current healthy weight. We have decided to be part of the Nielson 16% that just ‘throws in the towel’ and doesn’t make any resolutions!
What New Year’s resolution(s) have you made for 2016? Or would you rather just make ‘a commitment’ and join us to increase the 16% Nielson group? In either case, may 2016 bring you many joys and blessings!
Awesome blog!