Feeling anxious? Feeling stressed? You’d think seniors would have a handle on everyday stressors by now, but most of us haven’t. In fact, we have fine-tuned worry into an art form. Worry is what we do best. We worry about the past, the present, and the future. It’s a full-time job.
Humans have a long history of dealing with stress. Distant “ancestors” depended on stress to survive hostile terrains, uncertain elements, and pesky wooly mammoths. Our problems would likely have seemed like a piece of cake to them but are insurmountable to us. We internalize stress to the point where a wooly mammoth would be preferable.
Old age has never been given a pass. There are so many things to worry about that it boggles the mind. Consciously we know that worry doesn’t accomplish anything, but it still keeps us awake at night and ties our stomachs in knots. We understand stress better now, but we still struggle to deal with it.
Stress has no age limit. Remember the butterflies we had on the first day of school? We survived. We have bigger and more important stuff to worry about now, like agonizing over past mistakes, fuming about the present, and dreading the future.
Studies confirm that stress has a negative effect on health and aging, but at least we know that the effects don’t have to be permanent. The body is used to handling stress and returns to baseline as soon as the moment is over.
However. the negative effects of stress are real, and they can contribute to physical and mental distress. The upside is that stress was not designed to kill us, but to help our body, brains, and mind meet threats and challenges.
Your job, if you decide to accept it, is to prevent your immune cells from aging. Do this by taking care of yourself and managing your stress. All you need to do is ditch unhealthy habits, focus on things that give you joy, and seek help if you can’t handle it on your own. There is no shame in asking for help.
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