HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!

I wanted to begin this new year with some positive ideas for “staying vital” after such a stressful, depressing year.  These 10 ideas came from an AARP article titled “Life Lessons From the Queen.”  Her concepts will begin our new journey into 2021 on the right track.

1. Recharge your willpower.  Willpower is akin to a battery that requires routine charging.   It helps develop self-control. Take time daily for a quiet break.
2. Stick to a schedule.  Queen Elizabeth calms her mind by following a strict daily regimen, ending each day by writing in her journal.
3. Develop your sense of purpose.   Live for something larger than yourself.   Studies show having a dedicated cause helps immunity and reduces one’s risk of Alzheimer’s.
4. Serve others.   Giving of yourself to good causes can help put your own worries into perspective.  
5. Sweeten the self-talk.  So-called purposeful repressors – people who consciously dial down negative mind chatter – benefit from a kind of psychological armor.  The trouble with gloom is that it feeds upon itself.
6. Brush aside vanity.  The queen practices what behavioral psychologists call self-distancing.  In spite of her royalty and fame, she can remain detached and somewhat amused as a spectator to the stories printed about her. 
7. Never stop playing!   Taking time to play in a beloved activity keeps muscles active and the mind agile.  It should be a daily routine to engage in something you love to do.
8. Keep the faith.  Whatever worries the world throws at her feet, the queen believes there is a higher throne on which to lay them.   She attends church and prays regularly.
9. Be open to change.  Change has become a constant, especially this past year. The way we embrace it defines our future.  Never stop learning and adapting.
10. Cherish your crowning years.  There is a scientific phenomenon known as the U-bend of life – the discovery that the world’s happiest people tend to be those who are in their 80’s and beyond.  Growing older is a gift that many never get, so never be anxious about getting older.