Myths of aging – old people can’t change

Here some irrational beliefs are (the generalizations and must’s and should’s capitalized):

• Old people HAVE TO act exactly like young people. They HAVE TO be young people.
• I am TOO old to change.
• I have ALWAYS done it this way, and that means I will ALWAYS do it this way (”I’yam what I’yam” Popeye the sailor man).
• I MUST behave my age.

Here are some questions to counter the irrational beliefs:

• Who says or according to whom?
• Have you changed anything at all recently?
• Have you learned anything new recently? Have you learned a new word or telephone number?

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“You can’t teach an old dog a new trick!” Maybe so. I wouldn’t know. But, I really don’t care. I’m not a dog – you are not a dog – you, like me, are a human being.

And research has demonstrated that old people can learn and when we spend time learning new things and continuing our education not only our brains remain younger but our bodies remain younger too. We remain more healthy and have a happier more satisfying life.

In fact in the seminal book: Aging With Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives we see that elder people can have a very active mind and when we use our brains we age more slowly.

I know so many people who get degrees (first, second, third or even fourth degrees) after retirement – often just for fun. It is interesting that these end up being some of the best students as they have the wisdom to learn better….

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Modern brain research has demonstrated that our neurons can grow and make new synapses at any age. It is true that the rate of growth may slow down but the growth does not.

Another myth is based on the fact that we are losing thousands of brain cells each day. This is because there is so much redundancy in the brain and losing some brain cells may be the brains natural way of making new pathways and learning new thing – that is to say because some old unneeded ways are lost there is room made for new ways proving that:

Old people can change!

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