Yesterday I had an amazing birthday. The day was filled with support, love and gifts from friends and family. I also had a chance to learn some new things, and serve others, as well as enjoy wonderful food. Thank you to all.

Today I am thinking about how I can stay young, and what that means. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is minimizing wrinkles and gray hair, and I’m pretty active there, eating a lot of fresh plant-based foods, and less animal protein, sugar and dried foods, as well as avoiding chemicals. I also get plenty of time in nature, and lots of exercise, and do body rubs and get the occasional massage or ginger compress, even chiropractic or acupuncture if I feel I need it.

But I want to focus on keeping an open mind, and staying up on new ideas, to remain relevant. I see my older relatives, such as my father and uncle aging, and while I feel they’ve done a good job providing for themselves and their families, and doing things they love, they are a bit out of the loop when it comes to new ideas, both healthy and otherwise. Certainly, many new ideas can be dangerous, or at least hard to understand. Texting, radiated foods, and “preventive” medicines come to mind.

While doctors may be trusted to administer the latter to trusting souls, many people feel the world is passing them by once they reach a certain age. This lack of energy or closed mind to even consider new ideas can dampen our chances for higher longevity, and greater wealth and happiness. Certainly, at a point, we want to minimize risk, and live off our savings so to speak, but what happens we we are faced with a crisis? We then rely on our children I suppose, but we are used to controlling our own destiny, so that becomes a very stressful time.

So how can you and I age gracefully, and either retain the ability to assess new ideas, or train our children or other caretakers to work with us for better results, as the problems become bigger and we reach the end of our days?

Certainly, the same principles apply here as in the physical aging game: eating and living more naturally, paying attention to our bodies, and continuing to learn as we go on. But don’t we also need to develop a practice, to become open to the next phase? This may include meeting with our children and caretakers, explaining our needs and our fears, and asking for help to stay up on the technology of living, even as we continue to challenge ourselves to do it alone.

The holidays are a busy time, probably not an ideal time to have these discussions. But don’t let too much time go by, before you consider how you can be of service to your older relatives, or how your children might help you stay relevant, and age gracefully. Sure beats being alone and lonely.