‘The wisdom I’ve found in simplifying my life’

Please consider doing things at your own speed. I’ve heard many who stipulate that doing your daily tasks before midday helps to soothe the concern that the time is wasting. If this placates the lurking work ethic in you, go ahead with this.

Sometimes, finding your own rhythm can have its rewards. It is important to please yourself. Finding activities and hobbies you enjoy can take experimentation and hits and misses. The upside is, if you do new things at a slower pace, you will eliminate things you don’t want and discover things you are good at!

I found that at 70, I was quite good at listening and sympathising with family members. It is wisdom to nurture talents you may find, in order to help other people. Be open to having failures, it opens another door. Being older means a big plus, my grown up children respect my opinions, which did not happen in their teenage years!

A year ago before Covid-19 descended on us, I tried dancing to upbeat music in a group of over-60s geared to a year’s end performance, I found that I could not remember the step sequences. Becoming dispirited I realised, it was a joint problem, as well as a brain lapse. I can still bop around to music from the ’80s without pressure. Singing loudly in the shower or the car can be very stimulating. Cook with good music going and you will spice your food creatively.

Knowing yourself helps! A broad life is admirable, but not always possible. A narrower one can still yield many riches, in depth and quality. While we would like to be all things to all people, you cannot spread the butter on the toast too thin. Doing a few things very well and in depth gives much more satisfaction than flitting around being very social or keeping up with all your friends.

A cull of connections that don’t make you happy inside could be a bit drastic, but think of looking after your good friendships as an investment in deeper involvement in their lives and seeing better sides to your friends, not noticed before.

So, back to the broad life we all imagine for ourselves. A task orientation is fine, but keep the list brief. We tend to run on nervous energy if the list is long, but achieving a couple of items is just as good. I find a paper list of urgent, important and sometime in three, five, 10 years (I am kidding) helps. Whenever interviewees are asked for their plans for the next five years at work, I imagine over-60s being asked the same. A broad life for over 60 can be at a new depth.

Consider the merits that you can now better understand where a person close to you is coming from, or dealing with. We are now equipped with a measure of independence from the daily chores of an active parent: we can listen uninterruptedly.

We can choose to do things for a frail aged neighbour and join that community group to make other people’s lives easier. Little ripples come from our actions. We do imprint on people we meet.

A major part of simplifying your life is in material things. The Japanese clean up goddess who radically overhauls your home could be you. Bric-a-brac, pieces of furniture linked to memories, your huge wardrobe and your glass cabinet … all can do with a gentle clean out. You are simplifying, not erasing memories. The beautiful elements of your past life are engraved in your mind.

Look after your own welfare first, then you can be more for others, please!