Senior Sunrise

Preparing for death can be a sobering experience, but the good news is that once you’ve got the planning out of the way you can focus on enjoying life. No one wants to leave family and friends with a financial and logistical burden after death, and by drafting a living will you can prevent that scenario from ever playing out. The first step is to contact a lawyer you trust – or have a close family member make the arrangements.

You’ll be instructed to compile a list of all of your assets – both real and financial. Real assets include vehicles, homes, jewelry and other tangible valuables. Financial assets include shares in stock, savings bonds and the like. Then elderly planning entails systematically deciding which assets should be bequeathed to what particular inheritor. Finishing this process will give you serious peace of mind.

It’s just a fact of life that seniors need to be even more in tune with their bodies than younger people. This means knowing when to seek medical treatment, when to stop driving at night, and even when it’s time to part with certain physically strenuous activities. But just because you know your limits doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the twilight of your life.

Low-impact exercises like yoga and tennis are ideal for people of any age and physical skill level. Tennis is easy on the joints, and you might even meet a new friend or two by signing up for a doubles league. Yoga is great for more than just stretching and working on balance. It can also be a calm and soothing way to relieve stress. Just be sure to get all the elderly health information you can before attempting anything that requires a lot of exertion.

There are so many saints that are known, but remember there are also many unknown.  Count among the unknown all those who we believe that are in heaven enjoying the vision and presence of God.

Here are just a few of my favorites and some words of their wisdom that they learned by living.

    “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life. . . . If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”  St. Teresa of Avila.

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.” St. Padre Pio

“To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others.
Pope John Paul II”

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  St. Francis of Assisi

There are as many saints in this world today as there are

flowers that God created. 

Wishing you a Happy Saints Day!