Living An Active Positive Lifestyle…Ever Enough Time?

Flipping the calendar and winding our clocks, we tackled January in our “we don’t like winter” manner by scheduling fun stuff every week of the frosty season. As a result, we ended up with more things on our plate than hours available each day. So we reached into our bag of tricks, took firm grip on our time management skills and attempted to “fold space”—who wants to miss out on all the fun!

Good news: we racked up some frequent lifestyle miles, stayed active and healthy, learned new things, and connected with more folks than ever before—all key elements of what we call an “A-P-L each day… Active Positive Lifestyle that is!”

January found us cruising with close friends Al and Lynn Stacer to warm places. Aside from the resulting “changes in latitude and changes in attitude,” travel is also a wonderful way to improve brain health (smarter by the mile?). The Global Commission on Aging released research recently showing travel offers the same sort of physical and cognitive benefits as crossword puzzles or museum visits…can you say “road trip?”   

In January, we challenged ourselves by performing a Broadway/Show Tunes event at Bethesda Park Senior Center where we entertained a sold out crowd. We hadn't realized we even know that many Broadway songs!  Valentine’s Day we crooned our favorite love songs to the audience (and each other) at the George Pierce Park Valentine’s Day Breakfast…music and hugs were the special of the day! With the help of our friend Rob Kuhlman (studio owner and recording engineer of Root Cellar Music Studio), we continue to learn to sing and play new music as we manage all the intricacies of our ever evolving technical sound equipment…kind of like “brain massage!” Music is definitely one of our passions and a great motivator:  When you have something you like to do, you want to do it more often, and to do that you need to keep yourself healthy! We love sharing music with others, and it is always a good way to make more A-P-L friends.    

Speaking of passion, “Do what you love and love what you do” is a recent quote from our A-P-L friend Roy Crayton we interviewed last week for an upcoming A-P-L article. As an event manager at the Gwinnett Senior Golden Games for the past 11 years, Roy’s passion for table tennis and connecting with others has encouraged hundreds of participants. This passion also led to the establishment of a Table Tennis club at Bethesda Park Senior Center, where every Wednesday afternoon Roy and 15-20 other folks gather weekly to socialize and enjoy some friendly table tennis competition.     

As the tennis event managers for the Games, we want to remind all our senior friends 50+ that March 7th is registration deadline to sign up for the 2014 Games, which will be held April 2nd - May 15th.  With 350 plus participants, these annual games are held at Gwinnett County park venues, and provide friendly competition and pure social pleasure!  Registration information is available at www.gwinnettseniorgoldengames.org.  We would love to see you there!

Now on to Pickleball!  A recent favorite, we consistently fit this sport into our weekly Active Positive Lifestyle. Easy to learn, easy to play! More passion and diligent promotional efforts by our A-P-L friends Joe & Peg O’Toole, have now made Pickleball available every week at multiple venues in Atlanta including Rhodes Jordan Park and local YMCA’s. Just send them an email and they will be happy to add you to their weekly Pickleball schedule update.

And to keep current on senior issues, we attended the monthly meetings of the Gwinnett Council for Seniors. As members and partners of GCFS, we always enjoy the guest speakers, informative meetings, and more connecting.

For a bigger picture of the needs for our growing senior population, we attended our February bi-monthly meeting of the Senior Issues Action Team, under Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services.   Remember, there are 10,000 Boomers turning 65 each day for the next 15 years—we want to be part of the solution to encourage folks to make healthy life style choices!)    

For an even bigger senior picture, we spent an enjoyable hour with Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash last week.  Chairman Nash is definitely a fellow A-P-L with a very big passion for our community!

To close out the month (and hopefully winter as well!) the last day of February we attended our monthly meeting for City of Duluth F.A.B. senior organization (Fifty And Beyond). Major Don Woodruff provided useful tips regarding home safety, and guarding against identify theft and personal theft Now we are looking forward to both a warm and “safe” spring!    

Whew!  We’re definitely busy, and more importantly, we’re happy, healthy, connected to others and have a purpose and passion!  All key elements of an Active Positive Lifestyle.  What we need is more time…hmmm maybe that is what Daylight Savings Time is for!

As photojournalists, Sheri and Bill of Positive Public Image, Inc. publish engaging articles, and colorful images, that champion Healthy Aging, and the value of seniors in America. As entertainers and ambassadors of Healthy Aging, Sheri and Bill interact with their audiences using music, dance and multimedia presentations to encourage an Active Positive Lifestyle and connect with fellow Seniors. Call 678-672-7310, or email us!