Getting older comes with a few inevitable trade-offs. Even though I gain wisdom and care less what others think, my pace can slow a bit, names can take a little longer to recall and my physics can start renegotiating what I consider acceptable behavior. I know at least some of the usual prescriptions for ageing well: exercise regularly, eat my protein and greens, stay hydrated, do those cryptic crosswords, reading & writing. I realize while all those things are undeniably important, there's another piece of the puzzle that's I often underestimated. Medical research increasingly suggests that the strength of my social connections - specifically what type - can be just as influential in determining how well I age. Interestingly, to have a sense that neighborhood & community is important. It's not just about having contact with those I know, but new people as well regardless of age. It also showed the diversity of the networks is actually more important than the size of the network.
So what does this look like for me in real life?
I found diversity can mean several things, such as ensuring my social circle is socially, culturally and generationally diverse than an echo chamber. It also means diversity in types of relationships, for example having people who are very close (like family, siblings and close friends), moderately moderately close (like relatives, people in my alumni & professional clubs or neighborhood) and more distant people I encounter and met at conferences, seminars and chat to in local cafes for coffee and public places). This last category introduces the concept of the “third place” are really important for ageing well. These are places, I can reasonably expect to encounter different people and potentially interact with them - like parks, public transport, even temporal third places like art exhibition.
While it can sometimes feel like an effort to leave the comfort of my homes, especially during public holidays, but interactions can be a significant positive healthy effect both physically & mentally.
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Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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