MY new old MIND Archives - My New Old Self

Happiness as you age – no denial

Apr

20

2018

The older we get, the more we are told to embrace our age. To take pride in the decades we’re notching up. Yet most of us tend to ignore these exhortations to be loud and proud about getting older. On the contrary, we continue to mark birthday milestones in denial mode. I fear that if ...

It’s the (Positive) Thoughts that Count

Feb

24

2018

Readers of this blog will have noted that My New Old Self has enthusiastically embraced positive thinking. This was most recently in response to a study about the effects of exercise on older people. It revealed that the mere thought that you are not exercising enough can shorten your lifespan. Now there is a new ...

Aging – just accept it

Jan

12

2018

Nobody likes getting old. Yet the older you get the better you may feel. This is not some chirpy elder slogan, but a fact confirmed by scientific research. While our bodies deteriorate as we get older, our minds improve. They don’t get sharper, sorry – but one’s mood often becomes more upbeat. Studies show that ...

Being stubborn makes you live longer

Dec

30

2017

Name a few things that help you live longer. Exercise, sleep, healthy eating… Here’s something new to add to the list: being stubborn. A new study has shown that stubbornness is a characteristic that can help you live a long life. Research published in the academic journal International Psychogeriatrics looked at the mental and physical ...

So… that’s how they start sentences these days

Nov

16

2017

I have recently noticed more and more people starting sentences with the word “So”. I have also noticed that most of those who like to launch their sentences with So are younger than me. I have no principled objection to the use of So to start a sentence. In fact, there are many instances in ...

What are we, if not dotards?

Oct

20

2017

Previously on My New Old Self, as they say on TV, was a condemnation of the revival of a centuries old epithet for old people. Dotard, that word resuscitated from obscurity in the Trump-Kim Jung-un word wars, was rejected for conflating chronological enhancement with dotage and dementia. So we know what we don’t want to ...

Piano on my Mind 3

Sep

8

2017

I have recently taken up the piano again after a gap of nearly five decades. I was taught to read music at the same age that I learned to read English. At the age of five I started weekly lessons with a piano teacher who happened to live across the street. Even when we moved ...

Chilling to live longer 1

Jul

14

2017

It’s not only what you eat and how you move and how long you sleep that contributes to aging. What you think is also a factor. So think about chilling more. Warning: thoughts can be harmful to your health Recent research shows that certain thoughts can be so unhealthy as to contribute to an early ...

No Deathbed for author Karel Schoeman 1

May

5

2017

I would have thought that an author who wrote movingly of deathbed reflections would embrace such an eventual life review for himself. Yet acclaimed South African writer Karel Schoeman chose to end his own life at the age of 77, rather than carry on living, writing and reflecting. Afrikaans writer Karel Schoeman commits suicide President ...

“For You” = especially for me?

Apr

21

2017

“For You” – that was the tag on a present I recently received. It wasn’t giftwrapped and tied with a ribbon, but delivered to me digitally. It was a collection of music put together especially for me. Kind of like those mixtapes we used to make back in the pre-digital era. Algo-Rhythm “For You” was ...