Life Begins at 50

Imagine a man, 75 years old, with dementia, unable to speak or show emotions, a shadow of his former self. Would you like to be in his shoes, dear Reader? Certainly not! A lot can be done to prepare the way for a better life! Of course, there’s work involved, but fun too! Are you in?

Here are a few tips on how to grow old s-l-o-w-l-y.

50 Plus is No Big Fuss

Maybe you’ve heard that the older you get, the faster time flies.  When we were teenagers, we thought 50 – year-olds were ancient. Unbelievable how fast we got to the big 5-0!

Best Agers

The elderly have become an increasingly important target group for many businesses. The world of finance calls them Best Agers or Golden Agers. It has been recognized that doing business with people over 50 is good business. A study by Mercer Oliver Wyman shows how the European Market could increase its gains with us old folks by about $15 billion. 

In many banks and insurance companies today, every second client is over 50. This makes us very interesting customers for many branches of business. We older models can now be seen in advertising.

Many Best Agers are buying houses or building condos. They care for their appearance by eating a balanced diet, dressing in style and doing sports. They also travel extensively and are always increasing in knowledge.

Time and Money

Retirees and clients over 50 have two valuable assets: They often have time and money. In addition, this age group is growing!

Exhibitions and other services are becoming more and more popular on the subjects of health and personal care, free time and relaxation, travel and wellness, house and home, medical achievements and specific investment opportunities for your capital, work and study.

The Famous Midlife Crisis

When we think of a midlife crisis, the first images that come to mind are sports cars and blondes. A classical midlife crisis curve generally follows on the heels of a more or less straight and narrow life. It is the visible expression of a desperate escape to freedom. Most people over 50 have already overcome that phase. 

Life Begins at 50

Life lasts much longer than most people think.
Between 20 and 50 there are 30 years.
The time between 50 and 80 is exactly the same - 30 years.
The difference is that at 50 we have a much better starting position than we did at 20.

At 50, you know things about which a 30-year-old has no idea.
At 60, you can say things a 30-year-old would be better off not saying.
At 70, you can do things a 30-year-old would be better off not doing.

...

Instead of moping around, we could actually celebrate life! Why not let the joy of having a mature heart inspire you to rise to new heights and new experiences?

Some people begin to reduce their activities when they hit fifty. When the first pains come, they slow down, thinking they “deserve it”. The problem with that is, the more you slow down, the weaker you get. The less you move, the less you are able to move. On the intellectual level, the less you think, the weaker your brain gets. What we really need to do is fight the urge to slow down and reduce our activities, both physically and mentally. How can we fight back?

Do Something New! Remember Old Dreams

There are many fun and interesting things you can do to add joy and excitement to your life. You can read or listen to interesting books, join a club, learn to cook, take part in seminars to gain wisdom, go walking or do something for your health, make music, learn a language or travel. We will now have a brief look at the two last examples.  

Learn a Language After 50 – Possible?

There is no learning without motivation, and learning a language is no exception. 

The great advantage of learning a language after 50 is that our motivation is different. When we used to learn something, it was to satisfy our parents and strict teachers or to get good grades, but now we are internally motivated. Because we want to learn, the necessary discipline and stick-to-itiveness are naturally on board. Today many recognize the advantage of learning a foreign language for better job opportunities or for purely private purposes.

In addition, the many and varied life experiences of older individuals help them understand and sort the many rules and correlations involved in learning a foreign language. Many expressions in other languages are similar in English because they come from the same common language. If a person has already learned a bit of a foreign language in earlier years, they will be surprised at how much has stuck over the years and comes back with renewed use. The human brain is a wonder of creation, and learning a language after 50 might be easier than you fear!

Travel: When you travel to a new country, learn a few phrases of the language and experience the joy you produce in others when they see you are trying to speak their language!

Music Makes Us Happy

Here in my little town in Switzerland there’s a group called “Music for 60 Plus”. Individuals with various instruments get together and enjoy playing their favorite kinds of music together. Some actually come with the desire to fulfill a lifelong dream and learn a specific instrument. Doing this makes a positive impact on their quality of life.

Challenges – Notice Given – Notice Taken

Because many businesses are in a constant state of change, they often let their older, more experienced employees go. Generally speaking, it seems more difficult for people over 50 to find jobs. Employers often choose younger, less experienced people in order to save money.

But we older individuals can fight back! We need to hold on to our trump card: Experience. If we keep our minds flexible and fit by continuing to learn as we get older, we can become indispensable resources for our employers.

Retirement

Having so much free time on their hands is sometimes a shock for retirees.

Their “hard-earned retirement” can develop into a veritable nightmare. For this reason it is important to prepare in advance, and not just financially, for this phase of life.

Finally I have time and freedom! I can go where I want whenever I want! That’s the way many view retirement, BEFORE it happens! What that actually translates to in real life is often a completely different story.

What about self-esteem?

For those who have defined their lives by their work, retirement is an especially difficult time. These people have built their sense of value on their achievements. (See BLOG)

Even if all material needs are met and there is no financial need to work, to suddenly feel no longer needed is a painful experience for many.

The free time one has at one’s disposal as a retiree can suddenly become a vast impassable expanse with no structure and no goals.

How to Structure Your Free Time

Retirement is often looked forward to and dreamed about as a right that one has earned. We can see pictures of strapping seniors, smiling, with full heads of hair, riding their bicycles beside a lake. The truth of the matter is, many retirees struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide.

If you are more stressed in retirement than before, you are definitely doing something wrong. Burnouts and bore-outs are not reserved for the working class alone.

Spending time and energy on other meaningful activities while you are still employed will make the transition easier when the regular job ceases.

An especially difficult transition is in store for people who are in the habit of being reachable from work 24/7 or of checking their email every 15 minutes. The sudden silence is deafening. It seems no one needs them anymore.

Sometimes it is possible for retirees to continue working past retirement age. Part-time work might also be a good way to soften the blow.

Health – the Most Important Thing

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live the next 30-40 years being as healthy as possible? People who decide to do that must have a special interest and love for truth, because not everything that claims to be healthy is actually healthy.

A Prime Example

Throughout the world, people have been trained to believe in the importance of drinking milk and getting enough calcium and protein through milk and cheese. Many doctors still believe and teach this line of logic. The facts, however, if one cares to check them out, prove the opposite. It is a known fact that countries with high milk consumption also have a high percentage of osteoporosis and other unnecessary chronic conditions. (T. Colin Campbell, The China Study p. 217-222)

If You Want to Get (and Stay) Healthy

If you are really interested in a holistic healthy lifestyle, have a look at these important BLOGs: NEW - START - Plus.  We see “miracle after miracle” at our vacation and health center SONNMATT in the eastern Swiss Alps when our guests adjust their lives to live according to the principles described in these three blogs. Using only natural remedies to strengthen the body’s own immune system, quality of blood and emotional balance, healing transpires in every area. Praise God for these simple, natural remedies!

Here is a view of Sonnmatt (the yellow house) and its surroundings. Fresh air and sunshine make for a stronger heartbeat.

Members of the 50+ Club are a privileged class; they have many opportunities that others don’t have. The knowledge and wisdom they have acquired in the first 50 years can help them make decisions that will guarantee them a higher quality of life in the next 50 years! If they take these positive measures, they will be enviable indeed.

Typically Toxic Topics 6-10

Working successfully on toxic issues is like seeing nature with new eyes!

There are ways that lead out of all the toxic areas of life into a better future! Do not miss that !

Break the Cycle of Toxic Thinking

As a reminder: as soon as a thought is conscious, it can work down to the level of the genes. During a conscious thought process, thoughts become unstable and directed in a positive or negative direction. They always change. Even if the content of a thought does not change, it will still be overwritten. New proteins solidify the thought. The thoughts either get better or worse, no one remains neutral.

Hope you have been able to check out the previous blogs on the subject. If not, here they are:

TOX1 (Introduction)  TOX2 (Stress)  TOX3 (Brain)  TOX4 (Conversion) TOX5 (Typical Issues 1-5)

Let’s continue with __

6. When faith is destroyed

We are all spiritual beings. Scientific studies also show that a healthy spiritual life promotes frontal lobe activity, emotional intelligence, and general health.

Quite a few believers turn away from their churches because they have found aversion instead of appreciation. What a tragedy! Such people often transfer the disappointments they have made to their image of God, which keeps them away from the potential of becoming acquainted with God.

The reasonable belief in a loving God brings highly positive vibrations into our everyday life that none of his confidants would want to miss. Becoming free from fear, worries, guilt and self-doubt, being filled with unconditional love, hope and confidence, with a belief in a sensational future after death - no human philosophy or religion can compete with this on the scale.

Questions That Help You Have Healthy Faith

• What went well and wrong in your personal path of faith? Are you - still / again / no more / never - among believers? How far does your experience with God go? How much does it depend on people?

• How far has the vertical connection developed? Do you pray daily? Do you take time to communicate with God through nature and the scriptures?

• Are there any toxic areas in this context that require cleaning? How could this be done?

• Are there any patterns or other characteristics in your behavior that could be positively influenced? What would that look like?

• How about if you put all these worries and good ideas before God and ask HIM to help them put them into practice?

Faith has become spurious for many believers. The distractions and temptations of our time are too great. Those who want to grow in the quality of love can read the last chapters of the four Gospels. There an encounter with the highest, deepest, broadest and longest kind of love is possible.

7. Transforming Toxic Love

Just as many people would confirm that love is probably the greatest of all human values, so too will many people confirm that their painful experiences with love have hurt them deeply. Sad but true.

How come How is it that so many people have not found the key to true love, have not even looked for it? Are we blind, drunk or so distracted that it doesn't matter or has become too implausible? Are there no longer any good role models?

If we are 'lucky' to experience appreciation, love, care and compassion, then the neurologically totally positive effects on the autonomic nervous system and the immune and endocrine systems. This explains better health and a longer lifespan.

In contrast to this, lovesickness, let's say the love deficit, gives people a greater willingness to take risks, emotional stress and substitute behavior that reduces their own ability to love. Children who grow up like this have a much harder time accessing the sunlight of life.

We've talked about conditional and unconditional love on blogs. They show what the dimensions of love are and how we can grow in them.

Neurologically speaking, love is arguably the best that can happen. The whole organism is geared towards love. Many cells sacrifice themselves for the organism's survival.

Increase Love Potential

• What positive and negative love experiences have you had?

• What made you positive and what made you negative? How far is it up to the others, how much up to you?

• Can i really love Where does my love end Can I be loved by someone How far do I allow it? Where do my love limits come from?

• Do you give more love or accept more love? How do you fill your love tank so that you can give away?

• Can you distinguish between conditional and unconditional love? How far can you use both of them in everyday life? How far have you had experience with it?

It's nice to watch older couples walk hand in hand and be happy together. They have a secret in common. Love works for them. Coincidence ? or perhaps an interest in clearing truth and maturing wisdom.

8. Missing love language: body contact

We all started our lives with a strong need for physical contact. After all, we got used to it in the womb. What has become of it ? It's sobering to read statistics on body abuse. No contact is experienced as toxic either. The lack of or withdrawal from touch causes emotional problems. Our intellect, body growth and immune system are negatively affected. The brain also suffers from it and the tendency to aggression and violence increases as a result.

In infancy, this is considered to be the crucial component of natural development and healing. Babies can die from being touch deprived. The skin is a large 'nerve organ'.

From my teaching practice I have seen many children who are hungry for physical appreciation. Since their parents did not find out, they cannot pass it on either. What a tragedy.

Forms of physical friendliness can be:

• an encouraging pat on the back - works well among men too

• a friendly handshake accompanied by loving eye contact

• a warm hug to greet you

• a kiss on the cheek, lip and hand (only intended for special people !!)

• being competent empathic leads to the same neurological results!

Touching and being touched changes our mental processes. We thrive on positive touch. This is, so to speak, an essential nutrient to get out of the toxic world.

Optimization questions

• How many times have I been touched today? How many times have I touched others? Have I Hugged My Spouse Today? Is there anyone around me who depends on my touch?

• How about a positive feedback on a received touch? Find out for whom your touch is important because of their reaction, words and moments.

• Where are there still physical and emotional deficits that disturb and hinder? Where do they come from and where is the truth behind them so that being free of them becomes possible?

• Begin to enjoy physical contact so that you can share in the benefits and others become partakers too.

• How about offering a massage to your spouse? In a romantic context it will be a special experience for everyone.

Love as content shows itself in forms. Inevitably, that's in the nature of things. Loving someone doesn't always have to mean hugging and kissing. It can also mean listening, interested in the partner, how he thinks, feels and acts. After all, you want to be able to understand and love him / her even better.

9. How about more zest for life?

Healthy fun detoxifies, increases health and is supposed to make you smart. The best remedy for stress. Fun is free and spices up our relationships. By sick fun, I understand fun at the expense of others by dragging them into the mud in front of an audience.

Laughter alone is healthy. A hearty laugh causes the cortisol level to drop by around 40% and adrenaline by up to 70%, while the happiness hormone endorphin increases by up to 30%. The immune system is also boosted.

Humor makes both sides of the brain work together. If you laugh 100-200 times a day, you get an effect like rowing or jogging for 10 minutes. Laughter can dissolve toxic feelings and thus also protects the heart. It rejuvenates the body, mind and spirit.

How can a friendly smile also connect strangers with one another. "I like you, I like you ...". Joy of life pays off.

Exercise is an excellent way to support this effect, because it provides the brain with enough oxygen and helps to think more clearly. The frontal lobe (reason) is strengthened and endorphins are released. Do you know a jogger who is depressed?

In addition, the body is flushed and detoxified through sweating and the additional water absorption. The willpower is also retained or can be developed in this way.

Questions about strengthening the laughing and other muscles

• Which of your five senses is most related to fun?

• Which people put you in a laughing mood? Any why is this the case ?

• ? How important is active exercise in your weekly calendar?

• What funny events in the past create a pleasant mood?

• Do you manage to laugh at yourself too?

We can learn a lot from children: joy of playing, light-heartedness, authenticity, eagerness to learn, joy of life, loyalty. Let's take an example from them!

10. Handle time well

Do you know acceleration syndrome? The ever faster pace of life no longer allows us to find inner peace. Stressed out, we submit to the cruise controls in our society. Increasing productivity is the order of the day. Do more for less earnings; this makes the product easier to sell. - How can we break out of this agitation for life?

Time is money, some say. Others say: "Time is all I have. I won't let it be taken away from me!" Time management is the challenge. Set priorities. Healthy priorities of course.

You will be punished if you ignore the most important factors that are responsible for health, happiness and joie de vivre in all the work. The sympathetic (heartbeat accelerator) and the parasympathetic (heartbeat slower) should be brought to a balanced heart rhythm. This requires relaxation, not as a luxury but as a necessity.

Recovery is never a waste of time. We actually need a quarter of an hour break every two hours to switch off, actually it's time for some fun element.

Time management questions

• How far has your performance thinking, perhaps even perfectionism, developed? Is it still in balance or does it need a correction?

• How far do you succeed in promoting the most important relationships, regardless of social pressure to perform?

• How big would the list of all the fun topics that could significantly improve the quality of life be?

• There are so many ways to relax: massage, walk, contemplation of nature, all kinds of sports, games, short sleep, interesting literature, and naturally exciting blogs !!!

• Don't let such topics remain theoretical, find ways to put them into practice for the blessing of your entire family.

If you don't honor the minute, you are not worth the hour! Quality wins. What is your quality? Relationship, life, or love quality?

Theological thoughts

For each of the steps that you have decided to take, I recommend seeking God's help and support. Understandably, as our creator, he would like us to enjoy the life he has given us and to be able to be light in this dark world.

There are depths of love to which we may not yet have opened up. Whoever comes closest to Jesus appears the strongest. Is that what?

There are many Bible verses that underpin each of these topics. I find it interesting that only in the last few years we have slowly but surely come on the tracks of organic laws scientifically thanks to neurology.

I am pleased to see how trustworthy the biblical word is. Those who orient themselves accordingly are usually ahead of science. Simply strong!

This closes this 'toxic' topic. Hope you could benefit from it.

Reference book: "Who turned my brain off" by Dr. Caroline Leaf

Typically Toxic Topics 1-5

There are ways, sometimes wondrous ways, that lead out of all the toxic areas of life into a better future! Do not miss that !

Break the Cycle of Toxic Thinking

As a reminder: as soon as a thought is conscious, it can work down to the level of the genes. During a conscious thought process, thoughts become unstable and directed in a positive or negative direction. They always change. Even if the content of a thought does not change, it will still be overwritten. New proteins solidify the thought. The thoughts either get better or worse, no one remains neutral.

Hope you have been able to check out the previous blogs on the subject. If not, here they are:

TOX1 (Introduction)  TOX2 (Stress)  TOX3 (Brain)  TOX4 (Conversion)

1. Dealing with Toxic Thoughts

Thoughts can make us sick or well. It is always beneficial to analyze your own thoughts so that pride, anger, rebellion, self-pity, and ingratitude can be identified. It can also be used to record addictions: gambling addiction, critical addiction, food addiction or porn addiction.

Supporting analytical questions:

• Do your thoughts often revolve around entertainment, films; are they a little messy?

• Are there thoughts that arise often and are stressful?

• Would it be an advantage to write them down, structure them and possibly draw a mind map?

• Reflect on this and ask yourself if there is some real guilt in it that requires forgiveness? Compare thoughts with your principles and values. Are there any discrepancies? What would a solution look like? How would real love show in it?

• What can be done to replace the negative with something positive? How would that look in practice?

While toadstools look beautiful, it doesn't hide the fact that eating them means destruction. It is not so easy to see from the front for every toxic thought or feeling.

2. Dealing with toxic emotions

Sure, emotions and thoughts cannot be separated. Psychosomatics shows that feelings have a strong influence. They shouldn't be suppressed, repressed or even denied. As a basic concept, there are only two directions of feeling: love or fear.

Love :

It includes emotions such as joy, peace, trust, care, contentment, patience, kindness, gentleness, humility.

Fear :

It includes emotions such as anger, hate, anger, fear, guilt, shame, aloofness, depression, disorientation, pride.

While the love-related emotions have a positive effect on the organism, the others cause the body to defend itself, to go into protection.

The body is attuned to behavioral goals through emotions. This process is important because it is how our traits, talents and abilities are formed.

Those who do not learn to deal with toxic emotions will one day be billed for it.

Further analytical questions:

• Which values, attitudes and beliefs mostly influence your decisions?

• Are happy or painful memories recognizable? How could these feelings be described?

• By writing down many things become conscious and can thus be viewed from a distance.

• Do you notice that areas may still be suppressed? Are frustrations hidden that could somehow have an impact?

• Being able to express emotions is high school. We all have to learn that. The feelings are easier to reveal to a friend when you can stand by them yourself.

The more someone has lived in toxic feelings, the more challenging the exit. Small steps without giving up, steadily forward, will lead to liberation. With strong-willed natures, things can sometimes go a lot faster. Someone who promotes their frontal lobe becomes strong-willed (NEWSTART PLUS).

3. Dealing with bad words

Words are important and powerful, but also dangerous because they can be tremendously destructive. They reflect our inner attitude and values, our temperament and our character. Those who are used to controlling thoughts can also tend to choose their words.

People of integrity speak what they are convinced of. The words of the wise are valued. A fool can be recognized by his words. Redundant, useless, and irrelevant words indicate a dull, insignificant background. Words are like seeds sown. What will happen to it What is the harvest like?

Depending on our temperament, we tend to exaggerate, too many and often interesting words (sanguine), or too few but well-thought-out expressions (melancholics), or too violent, directive instructions (cholerics) or soothing, balanced, take-it- easy words (phlegmatic).

Word choice questions

• Which topics do you quickly convert into words, mostly without any control?

• Are these topics positively proven? What makes the choice of words wise and unwise? Is the harvest looking good?

• Can my words from today or yesterday be represented graphically? The constructive on the one hand, the problematic on the other? Are you keeping yourself in balance? Which predominate? What are the motives behind it?

• How could the negative words be replaced by positive ones? How would that sound? Which attitude would make it easier for me to communicate better?

• How about the resolution from now on to pay attention to the attitude, especially in difficult situations, to revise it and only then to make the choice of words? Remember that no master has fallen from heaven yet.

Using good words properly is a gift that can be developed. Life gains flavor, heat and quality. You live like in a better world.

4. Optimize decisions

Every decision has consequences. Thanks to our decision-making ability, we can also decide about our thoughts, feelings and words - as we want and are trained.

To what extent are we ready to take responsibility for our day-to-day decisions? The choice of work, spouse, vacation spot, friends are long-term decisions. Many circumstances such as culture, family, language and time of life are not our choice; they are decided by others (for us). This also requires a decision from us to deal with it as best as possible.

One of the most profound decisions is arguably life or death. We are confronted with it every day. With every meal we decide - whether consciously or unconsciously - for a long-term healthy life or not.

Our values ​​and experiences help in our decisions. A lot happens automatically. Some speak of gut instinct. Choosing a life partner based on gut instinct would not be enough for me. Feelings can be deceptive if they are not analyzed and made transparent.

To what extent does the interest in truth and honesty play a role in our decisions? The way the media is used, fashion trends, neighborhood envy, relationship difficulties, etc., all of them influence our decisions, sometimes violently.

With the decisions we have made, we have switched on or off our genes, which are responsible for our behavior and emotions. In this way, our free will decisions help our memory formation.

Questions to think about

Which attitudes and habits have significantly influenced my decisions so far?

Are there any values ​​and habits that need to be adjusted?

Can you explain the observations made to someone you trust?

Are there decision-making patterns that have always been positive? Why ? Negatives?

Better quality of life can be achieved through more conscious decision-making processes. How do you intend to use this in the future?

Anyone who rushes through life with a GPS or a map has a big advantage. But if he does not know the goal, he too is lost. Keeping the goal in mind helps to make the right decisions.

5. Recognize and forgive misconduct

What lives changes. Those who work a lot make more mistakes. Mistakes are part of our life. How do we deal with that ? How do we deal with mistakes made by other people? Can we forgive them Can you forgive yourself?

Forgiveness is a choice. With this, we can get rid of all the toxic thoughts of anger, resentment, shame, sadness, and bitterness. We can also part with guilt and hatred. Many people are misguided by these emotions. Too bad.

There are more than a hundred studies that demonstrate the healing power of forgiveness. If we do not forgive, the thoughts of the painful event will create fear in the amygdala brain region, leading to the release of stress hormones and increasing blood pressure. This condition can persist and lead to mental and physical illness.

Forgiveness instead of revenge pays off. With feelings of revenge you harm yourself the most.

Forgiveness begins with repentance. It also allows one to really love. Unconditional (see blog). We cannot change the past, but we can understand it better; knowing the truth from it will set us free. Free for good decisions. Free for forgiveness.

When we forgive, we are not apologizing for the behavior of the 'offender'. Instead of 'judging' this, which would amount to too great a responsibility, we hand it over to God's fate. HE is the judge and has relieved us of it.

Questions that aid the process of forgiveness

• Are there any injuries or suffering that have been inflicted on you that have not yet been processed?

• What's stopping you from starting the forgiveness process?

• What speaks in these cases PRO, what CONTRA forgiveness?

• What might the situation look like after forgiveness has happened?

• What steps can you take now to restore these relationships to health?

A real SORRY can bring hearts back together. It binds wounds and makes peeling paint seem unimportant. The main thing is that love is right.

. Here is the link:

Forgiveness-Seminar

PS. Reference book: "Who turned my brain off" by Dr. Caroline Leaf