TEN WAYS TO LIVE A MORE VITAL LIFE AS WE AGE

I formerly viewed my efforts of building wellness as a means for being healthier and perhaps to live longer. I’ve changed my perspective. Now, why do I pursue wellness - to live a more vital life right now? 

So what is vitality? I would like to live a life of zest and energy; I want to savor life, to enjoy life and even to relish life… and in order to do this I must inject vibrancy into everything I do.

I think vitality is a very personal concept; each of us views it and pursues it differently. Some of us find vitality by pursuing as active a lifestyle as we can; others of us find vitality by being more contemplative. It seems to me that the strategy I use really doesn’t matter as long as I feel that I can better express my true self authentically, and that I’m aware that I’m living fully with God. 

Perhaps the biggest part of vitality is my expanding awareness that I’m living right now – in this present moment. I can’t live with vitality yesterday or tomorrow. 

Vitality must be real; I must make it real – it can’t be contrived or put on. It’s much too easy for me, in our sensationalizing, fault finding, and “fake news” world for me to sometimes take a defeatist attitude about life in general.

Aging has taught me that such attitudes separate me from others, alienates me from my true self and breaks my communion with God. Beliefs, perceptions, and thinking like these only poison my vitality. I think that with all the forces in our modern world that seem to tear me down, it’s even more important than ever for me to make vitality enhancement, living fully, and living positively top personal priorities. 

Research

Mature Adults Who Actively Pursue Vitality…

Wishing you God’s peace in mind and heart,

Richard P. Johnson, PhD

This was taken (in modified form) from the beginning of my book Even Better After 50. If you’d like to learn even more take a look at Course 106: Even Better After 50 from the Johnson Institute curriculum