Autumn Years Fall 2024

HEALTH & WELFARE

Fit for Life The Quality of Our Choices Affects the Quality of Our Lives By Roger Anthony

Choices are an ongoing process in our lives. From the moment we awake until we sleep again practically everything about us ema nates from our power to choose. We all make both good and bad choices along the way. It is often challenging to decide what is best, and some choices are more difficult especially when there is no way of knowing what will result from our choice.

O ur lives are, for the most part, and passions, our careers, our partners, how we spend our time, where we live and more are the results of choices we have made along the way. Some of the most important choices we must make will determine not only the course of our life but more important the very quality of our life. Life is a continual series of choices, some very banal and others of major importance to our well-being and hap piness. We do not need to give much thought to most things to make an ap propriate choice. We simply quickly weigh the potential benefits of our decision and go with what would seem to provide the most positive probable outcome. Sometimes we actually choose to avoid choice altogether. We take the easy way, just go with the flow and unceremo niously let things work out in their own way or actually even allow other people to make those key choices for us, accept ing whatever may ensue. Also, there are things that happen in defined by the choices we make. Everything including our interests

our lives over which we have no control and are not a matter of choice. And there are times when we cannot possibly know or predict what will be the outcome of the choices we must make, but even when that happens, we will ultimately need to choose how to best deal with whatever happens. However our choices are made and regardless of whether we make them ourselves or let others do so, our lives, our individuality and our state of mind and health are defined by our choices. As we age, it becomes increasingly more important to make good choices to ensure that we will continue to enjoy the best of life for the longest period of time. Every choice has a consequence, either positive or negative. Choices that will make a difference in our short- or long term quality of life should never be made haphazardly. The good news is that there is tons of data to help us make sound choices about our health and continued well-being. For the most part, these choices are easy. Most of us already know

full well what we need to choose to do in order to live a longer, healthy life. How ever, in addition to good choices, it takes commitment, perseverance and for some of us, challenging lifestyle changes. I think that we can all agree that we want to stay alive, healthy and functional for as long as possible. Many of us believe that we have no control over falling ill, losing our functionality, prolonging our ability to live independently and yes, staying alive longer. It is important to re member that aging is not a disease, but it is a process, and fortunately, with healthy lifestyle choices, we can slow that process in order to live better and longer. Of course there is no guarantee that even the best of choices will produce a favorable outcome, but when it comes to health in aging, there are countless studies that prove that the probability is strong when healthy choices are made in our lifestyle. So here is a little refresher course and a chance to tick a few boxes to see if you are making the right choices now or if you need to be more proactive about living better and longer.

10 AUTUMN YEARS I FALL 2024