Moving On (2)
What is important to me?
It is likely that for most of us, being informed about health and finances will remain important, and even though these may be constantly changing aspects of our lives, it is important to remember what we have achieved so far, what hurdles we have overcome. Are we stronger than we thought we were, but reluctant to give ourselves credit? What if our cognitive ability starts to decline, is it something that needs to be considered? Remembering our achievements is something that is sometimes lost as we age, but it helps to form our self-respect and so it pays to reflect on what we have done in the past. Which of our achievements were recognised by others? What did we do well? Our ability to perform activities may decline as we age, so how do we maintain these abilities? Do we need help from other people or resources? Or perhaps just a bit more time? Younger people are more likely to know what they enjoy doing and how well they compare to others of their age, but can we offer assistance or encouragement to someone younger and if so, what might we learn in the process?
Learning new skills. Some families are very musical, and this is sometimes attributed to the family having lucky genes, but as a well-known quote states: ' The more I practice the luckier I get' and this may be reinforced by a belief that you need to practice something for 10,000 hours to gain a high level of proficiency. Then there is another theory that states that the chance of success in anything depends upon two things; (a) our desire to succeed and (b) our expectation of success The higher that both of these are, the more likely we are to succeed. Are our expectations realistic, and what can we do to improve on either aspect of this theory?
How often do we see something and say to ourselves: ‘I wish I could do that’? If so, what’s stopping you? It could be something physical, but not too demanding like walking more briskly or more often and taking more notice of what we see when we are walking. It could be a mental challenge like learning how to complete cryptic crosswords or brain training exercises, or perhaps taking part in distance learning to gain a better understanding of something that already interests us, or it could be something cultural such as playing a musical instrument or taking more of an interest in other ‘arts’ subjects – amateur dramatics, widening our interest in different forms of music or literature.
So, what could be stopping you? If your inactivity is related to an inability to move on, the reason could simply be lethargy, and the best cure for lethargy is activity. It is possible that we blame our lethargy on a lack of confidence, a lack of time, or a lack of resources. Confidence comes with practice, unfortunately, practice can also erode confidence, so we need to aim for small steps with achievable expectations, more regularly practised. If time is the excuse, how realistic is this as an excuse if a lot of our time is spent thinking about what a deep rut we are in and are unable to move on? A lack of resources seems to me to be a more reasonable excuse. So, what do you need? Someone or somewhere to provide the expertise, if so, what is available locally? A library is often a reliable place to look, or more likely, an on-line resource; instruction in pretty much everything is available on Youtube: (https://www.youtube.com/). if it is educational, Futurelearn has a wide range of short courses that are free to join, and the course information includes the estimated time in hours, to complete the course https://www.futurelearn.com/search. A lack of resources could also be a lack of equipment. You don’t need the best quality, high-falutin gear to get started, cheap second-hand can give you enough of a boost to generate enough enthusiasm and confidence to persevere. Most local newspapers have a section devoted to second-hand sales, and an online search will often provide a range of options.
Hopefully, although these suggestions could probably be expanded, they may provide some incentive to get started, and to stop saying: 'I can't be bothered'.
