Six Awesome Benefits Of Being Socially Active As You Age

These days, many aging individuals are looking for strategies they can use to make their golden years absolutely amazing. If this is the case for you, it’s important to know that being socially active as you age can take your life from average to awesome. Below you’ll learn about six of many awesome benefits that can result from remaining socially active into your senior years:

1. Building And Maintaining Great Relationships.

One great benefit of remaining socially active as you age is the ability to build great relationships. As noted in Harvard Health Publishing, maintaining great social connections is beneficial for health. Specifically, individuals who maintain satisfying relationships tend to be happier and experience fewer health issues. These findings indicate that maintaining great relationships is just as important as other healthy activities like abstaining from smoking, eating well, and getting enough sleep at night!

2. Mental Stimulation.

As many brain researchers know, the human brain requires ongoing, diverse forms of stimulation in order to remain active and alive. Luckily, being socially active provides the human mind with this diversified stimulation. Specifically, engaging in social activities as one ages keeps the neurons firing. The stimulation can result from a wide range of activities, including book club participation, bowling, or participation in a bingo night. The social engagement can even involve something like conversing with a close friend over a cup of coffee. Sometimes the mental stimulation that transpires from intense, intellectual discourse can be particularly exciting for the brain!

3. New Skill Acquisition.

Another wonderful benefit that results from remaining socially active during your golden years is new skill acquisition. This is the case given that social engagements oftentimes involve a wide range of activities that require seniors to learn new concepts. This can include anything from a Tai Chi class to participation in a group predicated on learning a new language. Some social events even require participants to become more technologically proficient by using iPads or other electronic devices. The new skills that seniors acquire through these social engagements are great for the brain and can also lead to an increase in self-esteem. If you’re looking for engaging senior activities in Redwood City residents can enjoy, note that there are numerous options available. Some of them include park-related activities, the family circus, and the 3D light show.

4. Longevity.

If you’ve thought about becoming more socially active yet feel hesitant about doing so, keep in mind that engaging with others can help you live longer. As reported in Time magazine, people with poor social connections were at a 50% higher risk of death than individuals with great social ties. While there is still no clear, incontrovertible explanation for how robust social connections entail longevity, the research studies indicate that ongoing, involved interactions with others is linked to living longer!

5. Remaining “In The Loop.”

Another awesome benefit that results from remaining socially active as you age is remaining in the loop. Note that when seniors do not make an intentional effort to stay connected to others, they oftentimes retreat into their own inner world and subsequently suffer from a wide range of negative emotional, mental, and/or physical consequences. Yet by being socially active, you’re always connected to at least two or three people that can function as a means of emotional support.

6. Coping Mechanism.

No matter how smart and responsible an individual is, she or he will experience complications and difficulties throughout life. This principle is as true for seniors as it is for everyone else, and this is yet another reason that remaining socially active is important. As noted in Mayo Clinic, having friends can help individuals cope with life issues such as a job loss, death of a loved one, serious illness, or divorce.

Don’t Delay-Become Socially Active Today!

If you’re serious about making your golden years an extraordinary period of your life, it’s important to know that being socially active is important. There are multiple benefits that result from maintaining an active social life as you age, and several of them are listed above. If you’re not already socially active, do your research and find one or several local communities that you can begin participating in!