What Makes a Great Senior Community?

February 3, 2009

The Executive Director. The Administrator. The person who puts a team together that has one common goal; to give their residents a truly outstanding lifestyle. A lifestyle rich in love and compassion, understanding and dedication.

But to often seniors move into an Assisted Living community because they appreciate the decor, or the size of the apartments or that it’s in the town they’re most familiar. But little do they know, choosing a senior living residence is as important as choosing a spouse. The community will take on the overall personality of the one who is directing it. If you have a stale, bitter director, you’ll have a stale, bitter community. If you have a happy, peaceful director, guess what? You’ll have a happy and peaceful community.

Have you ever heard the term, Like attracts like? When the director hires the team that will be running the facility, they will hire people that generally have similiar attitudes and beliefs as their own. Believe it or not, this will even trickle down to the types of residents who decide to move into the community. Like atracts like. Happy director, happy residents. Un-happy director, un-happy residents. So if you want to save time and money investigating which Senior Living Community is right for you, start at the top and get to know the Executive Director first. And remember, like attracts like. Practice happiness:)

How To HAve A Love Affair – Senior Living Insights

December 27, 2008

By Ruby MacDonald

Taking care of self is a natural outgrowth of self-love. Have a quiet love affair with yourself. – Dr. Wayne Dyer.

 

 

It’s that time of year again; let’s welcome December with gratitude for all the blessings that surround us. Every holiday season it has been my tradition to suggest that you give yourself a Christmas gift. That gift is to love yourself more. Self-love covers the oceans of your life and its effect excludes nothing in your own private world. It is priceless–yet costs nothing–except a decision. Our circumstances and age are not barriers. The only barrier is our own resistance.

 

There are many reasons why we don’t love ourselves properly. One is guilt from our past. We carry it around as though it were something to cherish; we talk about it, we think about it, and we put ourselves down for past mistakes. We can forgive others but not ourselves. We’ve all made mistakes; mistakes happen so that we can learn from them. They are not failures–they are simply tools for learning. They are forgivable. This season, forgive. Then the first beautiful gift you can unwrap for yourself is FORGIVENESS. Forgive yourself right now for everything that bothers you. Picture yourself as a beautiful new baby who has just entered the world with a life free of guilt and free of self-blame. LOVE YOURSELF. GOD LOVES YOU JUST AS YOU ARE.

 

The next gift to claim is a new way to look at illness and health. Dr. Wayne Dyer says that when you are told that you have a physical affliction you can either prepare to suffer or prepare to heal. Unfortunately, most of us open up our arms and receive the news as though it were what we’d been hoping for. After all, it does give us something new to talk and complain about. Dinner-table-talk. In addition, we usually take complete ownership of the diagnosis and immediately refer to it as “my” arthritis, or “my” heart condition, or “my cancer,” and we hold on like it is a precious gem. Then we worry about it developing into a worse condition, completely forgetting that, “We become what we think about all day long.”  We all know people who have been diagnosed with cancer and given a short time to live. And they live short. We also know of people who lived with cancer for years because they didn’t know they had an illness and were never given that life-sentence.

 

Many doctors don’t help us to think positively. Some love to tell us that arthritis will set in after a sprain, fall or break. They simply can’t say you’ve broken your arm and it will heal. No. Arthritis will set in. On a trip to Kauai sometime ago, I slipped on a slimy rock while exploring the beach and injured my wrist badly. I was told that I’d be getting arthritis.  If I had believed that, I’d have arthritis for certain.  When a doctor tells me that, I just look him in the eye and say, “Doc, I refuse to have arthritis.” They don’t hear comments like that very often and that renders them speechless–for a moment or two. My purpose certainly is not to put-down doctors, but rather to have you change the way you think about illness. When a medical expert tells us that we have a ”dis-ease,” the word means that our body is not at ease. It’s a warning. You can help put the “ease” or harmony back by focusing on the positives and believing that you possess the power/attitude to help heal yourself and that there is a spiritual solution to every problem.  You are never alone.

 

These are the easy steps to take: 1) Take control of your life.  Do not accept an illness with open arms;. 2) Refuse to give the illness permission to stay in your body. 3) Visualize your body as whole, as perfectly healthy. 4) Tell yourself several times a day that you have a healthy body. 5) Give gratitude for that body. 6) Do not think about or focus on the illness, 7) Do not talk about it, Do not reinforce it in any way. 9) Continue to follow your doctor’s orders and treat your illness as prescribed knowing that your body is healing. 10) Remember, thoughts are powerful. If you think you will not get well, you won’t. If you think you’ll heal, you will.

 

The best gift you can give yourself is a Love Affair. Make the decision to have a love affair with yourself, and then really fall in love with that magnificent spirit that lives inside your body.

 

May your cup of blessings truly runneth over.

Senior Living Insights

AGELESS – REALITY OR MYTH? Senior Living Insights

December 20, 2008

AGELESS – REALITY OR MYTH? Senior Living Insights

 

By Ruby MacDonald

 

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. – unknown

 

For the last few decades I’ve been teaching people how to think in a way that keeps them feeling ageless. And now, suddenly my friends and I have all become seniors. And that’s a good thing! Being a senior demands that we learn to flow with the tide or we shall drown in the sea of life. Some of my friends who are not yet seniors are also struggling in the waters of change as an only child, or children, swim away from the warm sands of home to find their new adventures. Then the parents must learn to walk the beach alone. My older friends experience the death of a loved one, divorce, illness, moving to a new community to be near adult children, and the list of changes we must face are endless. We’ve always gone through changes at every age but somehow in these golden years, the waters we wade in seem deeper.

 

Most of the major changes create high stress levels. However, change is the name of the game of life. Whether we can adjust to the many changes is what determines whether or not we will become “aged” or “ageless.” Given the choice, becoming and staying AGELESS is the ideal goal. Too many of us seem to reach a certain age and then never again venture into the oceans of life. Yet the ocean still beacons to us to jump in and swim.

 

Of course, circumstances change over the years and our health may in reality slow us down or even stop us from being as active as we once were. However, what we do with our attitude about any circumstance is totally up to each of us. Fortunately there are many who never see any limitations to living a full life. One of my favorite people who exhibited strength and courage was Christopher Reeves who not only fought to live life as fully as he could, but also helped others while doing so. He could have given up, felt sorry for himself and created misery for all those who loved him, but he displayed courage and determination instead.

 

Helen Keller, being both blind and deaf had more to overcome than most of us, but she said that, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” She didn’t include an age limit in her statement, and we should not set age limits to our quest for adventure. She knew that her character would be formed and strengthened by surmounting the difficulties she faced.

 

WE ARE THE MASTER, EVEN IN OUR WEAKEST AND MOST ABANDONED STATE – James Allen

 

There are so many advantages to being a senior. Yet we seldom hear the positive side. Let me name a few. By this time we don’t care anymore what people say or think about us. We’ve earned the right to be us and we don’t have to meet the expectations of others. We can simply relax and be. We don’t have to “do” unless we want to. As someone wisely said, we are not human do-ings, we are “human be-ings.” But we often forget to take the time to simply BE. Seniors have more time to BE.

 

Another advantage of being an AGELESS Senior is that we can “BE” an inspiration to others. We can help drown the old myth that being a senior is the end of life and that we can’t keep doing many of the enjoyable things we’ve always done. The only thing that stops us is fear and an attitude that shouts that we can’t or shouldn’t at “our age.” To become or stay AGELESS, you’ve got to want it – you’ve got to have the passion – if you are to change. 

 

Lasting changes need a strong foundation on which to thrive. Just as the oceans rest on firm bed- rock, our strength comes from being firmly centered in a Higher Power. To become or remain  AGELESS in today’s world requires a vigilant guard against the myths of aging that surround and nag at us.  In the end, it’s up to each one of us to decide whether we will be “aged” and let the last precious years of life slip by, or be AGELESS, ignore the number of years of we’ve lived, and find new adventures to pursue so that life is exciting and stimulating. The choice is ours. January first is an excellent time to commit to an AGELESS ATTITUDE, renewing that commitment every single morning. What would you like to be doing right now that you’ve allowed your age and attitude to stop you?

 

“HOLD FAST TO an ageless attitude FOR IF the spirit dies, LIFE is nothing more than a boat at sea that cannot navigate the oceans of life; it is at the mercy of the wind and waves.” – Ruby MacDonald

 

Senior Living Insights

Getting Older – Senior Living Insights

December 13, 2008

GETTING OLDER – Senior Living Insights

By Ruby MacDonald

“I began to understand that the promises of the world are for the most part vain phantoms, and that to have faith in one self and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” – Michelangelo

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback; I don’t think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, the woman was immediately embarrassed. I then explained that it was an interesting question and I would ponder it.

Old age, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body, of course! The wrinkles, the baggy eyes, skin spots and bumps, the sagging butt, and – - -. Often I am taken aback by that old person who lives in my mirror, but I don’t agonize over those things for very long. This is God’s plan for us.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become kinder to myself and less critical of myself. I’ve finally become my own friend and I like her.

I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly trinket. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy and to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. I dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50’s and if at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

I will walk the beach in a swimsuit that is stretched over a bulging body and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to despite the pitying glances from the bikini set. Oh yes, they too, will eventually look like me.

I know I am often forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. Eventually I remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one or when a child suffers or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

Most importantly, I think that by living this many years, I have finally begun to understand a bit about why we are all here; why we were gifted to walk the pathways we have trod and maybe glimpse a bit of God’s plan for now and later. I have been truly blessed.

So, to answer the question: I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been or worrying about what will be. And -I shall eat a bit of the “dessert of life” every single day! (Author unknown – an email forward 5-05)

***

I’d like to thank the person who wrote this article because she has fed us some challenging food for thought. Today let’s all rethink our own attitudes about aging and if they are less than positive, turn those thoughts around so that each and every day that God gives us will be a precious gift for which we truly give thanks and receive with gratitude each and every morning as we awaken.

PEOPLE DON’T GROW OLD.

WHEN THEY STOP GROWING, THEY BECOME OLD. – (Anonymous)