Breaking the habit beyond 50

Breaking the habit 

Ich bin heute ganz stolz, weil ich euch meinen ersten Blogpost in englischer Sprache „beyond 50“ präsentieren kann. Ich bessere mein Schulenglisch (lang, lang ist’s her) seit ein paar Jahren, in unregelmäßigen Abständen und ohne dazwischen zu lernen, online bei der lieben Julia auf. Wir machen Konversation, ab und an Grammatik und lesen Texte.

In meiner letzten Hausaufgabe musste ich einen Text zum Thema „beyond 50“ schreiben. Und weil das Thema so gut zu meinem Blog im Allgemeinen und zum Instagram Live mit Ursula, Sabina und Annette letzte Woche im Besonderen passt, hat die Hausaufgabe heute, nach Verbesserung durch Julia, den Weg auf den Blog gefunden. Aber lest selbst.

We read the text „How to stay young beyond 50” and I was asked to give my opinion on three questions to this topic.

The first question was: “What do you think is the most important factor in staying young?”

Im beyond 50 myself. I think it’s all about mindset and confidence. A person who is confident and has an open mindset is generally happier. Furthermore, there are certain character traits that enhance a person’s charisma: being open-minded, grateful to oneself and kind to others as well as self-determined, self-assured – regardless of traditional roles and social norms – and not being a carbon copy of someone else. That is what can make you look young.

The second question was: “Do you know someone over 50 who seems very youthful? Why?”

Oh, I would say, that’s me. I’ll turn 60 next year, I’m trying to start over and I’m not afraid of that. No, I’m curious of what will happen. I’m young at heart, young in my mindset and also in the way I look. But why? I think, first it’s genetics, then it’s my healthy lifestyle. I spend my time and share my life not only with people my age, but also with older people and often with much younger people. I’m interested in different personalities, how they live, how they think, how they are and therefore it’s not important how old someone is. I’m also interested in new things and topics and always curious to see what’s next.

My mindset is clear, I feel a lot of gratitude in the here and now and I try to enjoy every day given to me on this earth. Even when it is a very difficult or sad day, I know there is always a reason to smile and to be happy, even if just for a moment.

Youth and health beyond 50.

In addition, I think that nothing is more important than health, physical and mental, which brings us to the third question: “Would you rather focus on physical or mental youth and why?”

In my opinion, both are very important but if I had to decide for one, I would focus on mental health. I choose this because my dad had dementia and it was very difficult for the family to handle that and it was a very hard season. Except for my dad. He wasn’t aware of his situation. He was often kind, sometimes like a child, and on a bad day, he was angry. But overall, it seemed that he was happy.

Some weeks ago, I met a friend, he’s 71 or 72 now and he also has dementia. Sadly, he’s realizing it every day. And I think that’s also very hard. One time, he told me: “Sigi, imagine, the way to the supermarket. I drove it in my car more than a thousand times. But every now and then, there is day where I sit in my car and I can’t remember how to get there. I have to ask my wife or I have to stay at home.”

In the end, I’m not sure what’s better, physical or mental youth. To be bedridden must also be terrible when the mind is clear and alert. For me it’s clear, you need both, physical and mental health and youth.

I like to say: “Life is change” and that’s good. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t try everything to stay young and healthy.

And by the way, one last thing. About the topic “What is age-appropriate?”, I had an Instagram live with my colleagues last Tuesday. Here you can see and hear it.

Wie ist das bei euch? Braucht ihr Fremdsprachen im Alltag? Wieviele und welche Fremdsprachen sprecht ihr? Und wie würdet ihr eine oder alle drei Fragen beantworten? Gerne auf Englisch!

Die Fotos zum heutigen Beitrag machte Alexandra Leberle auf Mallorca.