If female baby boomers don’t want to feel old, here are a couple tips that might help. Do not, under any circumstances, cut your hair the same length as your elderly mother. Guaranteed, no matter what the style or color, you will end up looking like her. No matter how tempted, do not even think of amassing a collection of sweat suits. Even if you swear to yourself you will never wear them when you go out, you will. It may be a comical take on age gauging, but if seniors view themselves as â€old,†there is a good chance they will also start feeling old. According to a recent Pew Research study, perception of one’s age has a strong correlation with overall happiness. The research report was compiled from a telephone survey conducted with a national sampling of 2,969 adults living in the continental United States. Apparently, the western part of the country had the highest concentration of older adults who said they do not feel old. 78 percent of those westerners 65 and older did not consider themselves old, as compared to 67 percent in other parts of the country. When asked how old they do feel, two thirds of Westerners ages 65 and older said they feel younger than their chronological years, compared with 57 percent of older Americans in other regions. Among older westerners, half say they feel 10 or more years younger than their actual age and one out of five said they feel 20 or more years younger. Seniors in the west seem to get more exercise and the study suggested that there were broad differences by region on several attitudes and personal experience related to the aging process, such as residential mobility, family relationships and living arrangements. Throughout the country, it was determined that the majority of seniors live independently in their own home or apartment. However, senior westerners were twice as likely as those living elsewhere to reside in an assisted living community. 16 percent living in the west said their home is in an assisted living community, compared with 8 percent of those living in other regions of the country. When the study compared regions and found differences in attitudes and lifestyles of older Americans, they also compared the experience of aging based on whether seniors lived in urban, rural or suburban areas. Rural settings ranked highest for being satisfied with number of friends, suburbanites ranked highest when asked if they feel said or depressed and also came in first when asked if they experience loneliness. Perhaps some areas of the country do encourage a more youthful approach to aging, but the real mantra that sustains many baby boomers as they defy stereotypes about the capabilities of their age, is their willingness to stay young at heart. Exercising and eating healthy are enormously important factors in aging gracefully, but our minds are the seat of our mobility to stay young at heart. Our minds control our attitudes, our thoughts, our words, our feelings, and our actions. The strongest predictor of happiness in old age is staying young at heart by being open to differences and change, being curious and excited to keep learning and experiencing new things.
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