by Christine G.

Created on: January 23, 2012

Some older people are an ongoing source of amazement.  They buzz around as if their extra years have infused them with energy rather than loading them down.  These are the poster children of geratric nirvana.  They make the "golden years" look good.

Others are shut up at home or in institutions, crippled by physical and mental disabilities.  Many of them are doing the best they can.  Despite all their efforts and the dedication and encouragement of their caregivers, they must be satisfied with making the best of what they have to work with.  These are the people who we like to pretend don't exist.  Many people, including some medical professionals, would prefer not to visit a nursing home.  For those who are courageous enough to invade the purgatory of disability and get to know the people on their own terms, treasures of inspiration, wisdom, and hope are waiting.

Between these two extremes, we find a continuum of seniors of varying fitness levels, struggling with the reality of diminishing ability and the inescapable fact that every day that passes is bringing them closer to the end of life.  They may feel that they are less valuable because they can no longer work the way they used to and earn the money they used to.  They probably have aches and pains and stiffness that they did not have before.  Depression, isolation, and boredom may haunt them.  They may wonder if there is any point to life at all.

These people could be our friends, neighbours, relatives, parents.  They could even be you and me.  The universal challenge is to get into an upward spiral rather than a downward one.  The more you do, the more you can do.

Activity for the sake of activity is helpful, but it is difficult to sustain.  Interactivity is a more holistic concept that includes social, emotional, physical, and spiritual activity working together to create personal wholeness. 

If you want to foster increased interactivity, stay out of Shouldville.  It is irritating and discouraging to have someone standing over a person, lecturing about how one should be more active, more fit, more involved.  Instead, be wily.  Lure your intended target into the fitness zone.  This will require an investment on your part - but no pain, no gain, right?

The simplest way is to issue an invitation.  "I'm walking over to the mall/park/market.  Would you

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