Having lived in Paris for an academic year as a graduate student, I had experienced just about everything that a tourist would ever want to see including a visit to “Les Egouts” (the sewers of Paris). One day my curiosity got the best of me and I just had to check out one of the less [...]
Among the easiest of life’s routines is creating a routine for everything. It is easy to get into habits we repeat over and over. Repeating our behaviors from day to day enables us to know what is going to happen next. What happens next is no surprise, because we have habituated ourselves into a series of easily repeatable habits. Usually, we are comfortable with those habits. Usually, we prefer to stay in the comfort zone our habits create for us. We don’t have to think or decide or deliberate on our next move. It has been already predetermined. After awhile, such behavior or actions just happen. They don’t require any effort.
Once in a while, something comes along to disrupt such patterns. Once in awhile our routines come across a question: “why are we doing this or that?” Once in awhile we are met with a genuinely motivated inquiry from deep within ourselves or from someone who has observed us carefully, “why do you do that?” It is then we become aware of how staid, and set in
It is so easy to get into the habit of spending unnecessarily. For seniors who have lived a rather comfortable existence up to and including retirement, our spending habits have been predicated on seeming to have plenty. Now, we are facing a downturn in the economy that nudges us to be more alert to our spending habits and need to protect our resources. Favorite habits of spending include things we think we deserve, eating out on a whim, buying new clothes that are on “sale,” taking another cruise this year, purchasing a new vehicle every 3 years, redecorating our home, installing the latest gadgets, whether electronic or appliance. These are just a smattering of our being lured by the temptation of spending. How does one put limits on such prodigal behavior?
Discontinue receiving all kinds of catalogs and magazines, whose advertising is designed to draw you into the trap of wanting, having to have and acting on the temptation
Lonely Planet introduces India as Bamboozling. There’s simply no other word that convincingly captures the enigma that is India. With its in-your-face diversity, from snow-dusted mountains to sun-washed beaches, tranquil temples to feisty festivals, lantern-lit villages to software-supremo cities, it’s hardly surprising that this country has been dubbed the world’s most multidimensional. Love it or [...]
In the 1990s, Johns Hopkins University and other medical centers conducted some studies and discovered there were genetic considerations in the search for the cause of glaucoma among senior citizens. That research showed a correlation between glaucoma in a senior and siblings, children and parents also having glaucoma. Obviously nothing causative here. But definitely a [...]
Congress is poised to pass the Dodd-Frank Bill, financial overhaul legislation, this week. It is expected to be on President Obama’s desk by July 4. Many financial and political experts call it long overdue, taking “…a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done, ” said Senator Chris [...]
As SCJ’s Senior Moments blog said last week, this is the season of class reunions. I happen to be one that is ‘celebrating’ 50 years of highschool graduation. And I did struggle with whether I really wanted to attend or not. In fact, I choose to NOT. And I did have good ‘excuses’: we were to [...]
Smarter Travel provides information and inspiration called Seniors on the Go. At the bottom of this page I found Cheap Flights for London by Booking Buddy. London is a great city to explore on foot as the well known landmarks and famous parks are all located in the city centre. Another plus is that the big [...]
With every movement and inflection, we telegraph how we feel, how our body is doing, what our stature and facial expressions are communicating every day. Body language is something we offer unawares. We don’t see what others experience when they encounter us. If we are stooped, our body is very likely responding to some discomfort or pain. If we are grimacing with our facial expressions, we are sub-consciously communicating that something is going on with our body. Noticeable to others, unknown to ourselves, every movement has a meaning and telegraphs how we feel.
If we shuffle across the room, finding it difficult to pick up our feet, we are letting others know that walking brings with it more than we can give. If we tread slowly going up or down steps, our knees, perhaps ankles and lower back are accommodating our body to share how difficult it is to transport our weight. Getting into our out of a chair or sofa may be a
The Commonwealth Fund is “…a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable”. All senior citizens on Medicare would do well to review this web site carefully. A recent report from this US private foundation selected six countries [...]
