PERSONAL HEALTH
FORM YOUR OWN ENTOURAGE thinking healthy Shelly Howell is the author of “Don’t be a Wuss: Inspiration for a great life after 60.”
They say that to successfully raise a child, it takes a village. I’d like to propose the idea that to be a healthy, active senior, it might just take an entourage. For an actor who’s managing a film career, the entourage gets them safely to events, protects them from crazy fans, and makes sure they have a cold beverage when they’re thirsty. Now that
Friends who met on vacation four years ago and now meet in France every summer. Photo by Jonelle Birney Sullivan
I’m in my 60s, I need all these things. While most of us will not achieve star status and hire an
Exercise classes are a great place to meet new people and build your own entourage. Photo courtesy CDC
entourage, we can build a team of people in our lives who protect and support us as we do the same for them. Wild animals know
instinctively that there is safety in numbers. Lawmen in the old west formed a posse when there was a dangerous mission. But that’s probably too many analogies for one column. Emergencies are going to happen. Whether it’s a sudden period of rapid heartbeat or a broken pipe under the sink, we will all need resources in the future to get things fixed. Isolation becomes more and more dangerous, so having an entourage at your disposal can save your life. How can we put this idea into play in our own lives? We can start building a community of people around us for our health and safety as we age. Unfortunately, as we get older, we don’t get more courageous. There are times in our lives when making new friends feels easy. When my children were grade school, we were constantly showing up for soccer teams, class birthday parties and music lessons. We easily met other families along the way. Our children gave us all something in common. With this in mind, look for opportunities to do things you love and develop friendships with others who share your interests. 1. Knock on doors. Your neighbors are not just resources, they are potential new friends.
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AUGUST 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com
