To remain healthy, senior citizens should try to keep themselves so meaningfully occupied that there is hardly any time left for “doing nothing.”
One morning, an acquaintance called me to discuss my articles focused on retired individuals. He himself was only in his early fifties, but he regularly reads my writings on senior citizens. Smilingly, he said that in a few years he too would enter that stage of life.
When I asked the reason for his call, he shared his concern about his parents, both above seventy-five years of age. According to him, instead of moving toward positive ageing, they spent most of their time idly. And when there is no meaningful activity in life, negative thoughts naturally begin to occupy the mind, eventually affecting physical and mental health as well.
To stay healthy, one must remain so engaged in purposeful activities that there is little room for emptiness and inactivity. Of course, you may say that giving such advice is easy, but following it practically is not so simple. Over time, inactivity itself becomes a mindset, and breaking away from it can be difficult.
That is why it becomes important to discover an activity according to one’s own interests and devote oneself wholeheartedly to it.
Let me share an example. One day, a seventy-year-old man suddenly decided that he wanted to learn the harmonium and sing songs from his younger days. When he first discussed the idea with his wife, she laughed it off as a joke. But when she saw his determination, she wholeheartedly supported him.
At this age, he hired a music teacher and began spending time every day practicing. Gradually, months turned into years, and within about two years he became skilled enough to perform before friends and family members. He started experiencing deep inner satisfaction. He became healthier, happier, and mentally more cheerful. He was happy, and naturally the family too became happy.
If you have even a small garden or a few flowerpots at home, immerse yourself in gardening. Take it so seriously that people begin appreciating your efforts. Use your mobile phone and search online for information about plants, fertilizers, seasonal flowers, and gardening techniques. Gain so much knowledge that your neighbors become impressed by your expertise. The joy and satisfaction you receive from this will be immense.
Let us look at another example. A person worked as an engineer for nearly thirty-five years before retiring. A few years after retirement, he realized that he did not want his knowledge and experience to go to waste. He resolved to devote his time to teaching skills to underprivileged youth in society. His mission became helping young people become capable enough to support their families independently.
Some time ago, I read a similar news report in a Ranchi newspaper. After retiring from Coal India, five or six engineers together started coaching classes for poor students aspiring to get admission into IITs.
I have shared only a few examples. All of you are experienced individuals, and I am certain that each one of you can discover meaningful work suited to your interests and abilities. One simply has to make a firm decision — that we wish to remain healthy, avoid becoming a burden on others, and continue helping those who need support.
Just think how positively your health will improve if you remain active and engaged. Your family members too will feel happy seeing your enthusiasm. Society will look at you with respect and admiration. Other retired individuals may become inspired by your work and feel motivated to begin something meaningful themselves.
At this stage of life, we must learn to lose ourselves in life itself — not sit waiting for death. We should not waste time wondering who comes to meet us and who does not. Instead, we should make a conscious effort to repeatedly meet those who truly care for us and bring warmth into our lives.
There are still many years ahead for us to share our experiences, remain healthy ourselves, and make our lives useful for others.
Author
The author is the founder of the Never Say Retire mission. In order to achieve this goal, he also runs this website and his Facebook group Never Say Retire Forum has Hundreds and Thousands of members today.
