10 Simple Things People Who Flourish After 50 Tend To Make Time For
theboone | Canva Do you ever wonder if you're missing out on the most important things in life? For many, this is a daily narrative. You're so busy being busy that you forget to actually live. This makes it easy to wonder if you're missing out on things — especially the important things — in your life. After all, no one wants to have regrets as they grow older. The truth is, if you're tired of worrying about missing out on important things, it's time to do something about it.
People who flourish after 50 aren't doing anything complicated or expensive. They're simply making time for small, meaningful things that keep them connected, growing, and genuinely enjoying life. These habits are so simple that you can start incorporating them today, no matter where you're at or how busy you think you are.
Here are 10 simple things people who flourish after 50 tend to make time for:
1. Love
Our entire existence is based on falling in love. It’s how we connect to each other, ourselves, our creator, our family members, and make sense of the world around us. Love is the most profound, freeing, incredible feeling we can experience. And when you live out of alignment, that’s when negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences pour in.
Harvard's 85-year study on happiness found that people who were most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80, proving that the love and connection you nurture throughout your life matter way more than money, success, or even your genes when it comes to aging well.
How to add more love to your life:
Free yourself from life-long limiting-self beliefs, hatred, negativity, and anger. Open your heart and soul to the goodness of love. One thing you can start right now to live your life in alignment with love is to simply start acting on it today!
Love yourself. Love your family. Love your partner. Love your children. Love the world around you, and love everyone in it. Loving the important things around you means you'll be experiencing them daily.
2. Happiness
Close your eyes for a moment, and think back to the last time you were truly happy. Where were you? What were you doing? Why did you feel happy?
A lot of people think happiness is this out-of-reach feeling that we can only “become” once we reach a certain pinnacle of success, achievement, or are outside of our normal elements (such as on vacation). But happiness is a lifelong choice. It doesn’t mean every single day is going to be great, or that your life will be perfect, but it does mean you'll choose to allow happiness to be part of your day.
How to add more happiness to your life:
A happy life comes from learning to appreciate and say thank you for the many blessings you already have! Start small. Do one thing every morning that makes you happy. Maybe this means waking up early and watching the sunrise.
Or drinking coffee and having a nice conversation with your partner. And always remember to say thank you for what you do have, since gratitude is a proven way to make yourself happier.
3. Connection
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Take a deep breath. Do you feel the life pulsating within you? The air as it travels into your lungs and circulates before it’s quickly expelled again? That breath you’re taking is your connection to this physical world and everything in it.
Studies show that high-quality social connections give older adults a sense of belonging that's directly linked to better self-esteem and improved overall well-being. Feeling connected to others protects your mental and physical health in ways that are just as powerful as eating right or exercising regularly.
How to add more connection to your life:
Spend more time every day getting to know and connecting with yourself. Spend time connecting with your family and good friends. Put down your phone. Turn off your TV. Allowing yourself to be present is a guarantee that you won't miss out on important things; you'll be too busy experiencing them.
4. Creativity
How much time do you spend daily honing your talents? Developing yourself? Creating? Building the life of your dreams? The time you spend building yourself up pales in comparison to the time you spend aimlessly scrolling through social media, watching TV, and living vicariously through other people.
But here’s the thing — all of us are creators; we were born to create. Now, it doesn’t mean the creation process will be easy — on the contrary, it will be full of many challenges, but that’s the point. If what you wanted to create was an overnight process, and then voila! It's done — then your life cycle would be a lot shorter!
How to add more creativity to your life:
Spend at least 30 minutes every day doing an activity that will improve your talents and better your mental health! You'll get to create something tangible and really feel the benefits of taking up a craft.
5. Kindness
Have you ever done something nice for someone just because, be it friends, family, or a stranger? And when you did that thing, how did you feel? The thing about kindness is that when you exude it, you also receive it. When you give without expectation, it's also given to you without expectation. And many times, being kind is one of the best gifts you can give yourself because it makes you feel good. And when you feel good, you’re happier, healthier, and more loving.
When you're kind to others, your brain's pleasure and reward centers light up as if you were the recipient, creating what scientists call the "helper's high" that boosts serotonin and genuinely makes you feel good. Being kind really is one of the best gifts you can give yourself because it improves your own mood and well-being right alongside the person you're helping.
How to add more kindness to your life:
As you go about your day-to-day, think of one thing you can do for someone else that will bring them happiness and make them feel good and do it! If you incorporate kindness into your daily life, you'll be amazed at how magical and purposeful your life will become to you and everyone around you.
6. Peace
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Being able to keep peace in your life is a crucial element to living to your best. Peace is what keeps you from feeling overwhelmed, even when times are tough. It teaches you when to say, "Enough is enough," and walk away from toxic situations and relationships. Your peace should be a prized possession in how you enjoy life.
How to add more peace to your life:
You should practice it every day by listening to yourself and learning what you need to live happily. When you spend time understanding yourself, you'll recognize the signs when your mind and body are telling you something isn't right.
You're going to be able to hone your instinct for figuring out when there's something disquieting in your world and pinpointing it. Your peace is precious for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
7. Purpose
Have you ever felt like you're drifting aimlessly with no end in sight? Your life is lacking purpose — and if you want to be able to seek out that feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment, then you need to have it. Everyone, whether they're young or old, weak or strong, is born with purpose. Your main purpose is to live and grow and be healthy and happy.
And while you may have a checklist of other things you need to accomplish those goals, like a job, a place to live, a relationship, your first — and most important — goal should be to discover your purpose and follow it. A job or title is not your purpose. Likewise, a skill, your belongings, or your wealth status are not your purpose, either.
Research shows that older adults with a strong sense of purpose are 28% less likely to develop cognitive impairment and dementia, and the best part is that purpose isn't some lofty, unreachable thing. Having goals, pursuing hobbies, caring for loved ones, or contributing to your community all count as purpose that helps your brain stay resilient as you age.
How to add more purpose to your life:
You must find what makes your soul sing, the thing that makes you feel alive, and follow that purpose, making memories, having experiences, and enriching your life as you move toward it. Your dream, career, family, and overall life should be healthy parts of what you're passionate about, and you should be moving toward them every day.
8. Time
Time is the most finite resource any of us has, and at some point, we're all going to run out of it. So why spend it doing something that makes you miserable?
Learning how to manage your time is probably one of the most important things in life, but it's still so hard to appreciate. Many people will stay in that toxic relationship, because it's harder to break up. Or keep going to that toxic job, because it's difficult to find another. Or tell someone "Sure!" when what they really wanted to say was, "No way!"
How to add more time to your life:
Your time is precious. Don't spend it saying "yes" to things that won't serve you in the end. If you really want to stop feeling like you're missing out on things, take your time back. Stop rushing. Slow down. Do the things that are important to you, and don't be afraid to say "no," because once your time is up, that's it.
9. Health
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It's often said that we don't appreciate the things we have until they're gone, and this goes doubly for health and well-being. As children, it's easier to spring back from injuries, illnesses, or even crazy situations. But as you get older, you start to realize why so many cultures toast their wine glasses to "good health."
A MacArthur Foundation study found that 70% of physical aging is determined by the lifestyle choices you make every day, not just your genes. Taking care of yourself through good habits becomes more precious the older you get because you start to really understand that your health is the foundation for everything else you want to do and enjoy.
How to add more health to your life:
Take care of yourself. Eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, and fuel your body with what it needs to keep running effectively in the long-term. Treating your healthy body like the temple it is will guarantee you'll have a greater quality of life and be around to experience some of these important things for as long as humanly possible.
10. Learning
Did you know that your brain creates new neural pathways every time it learns something? Or that keeping yourself open-minded and willing to fire up those synapses is tantamount to keeping your brain young and healthy?
How to add more learning to your life:
Education is one of the greatest gifts we have as a society. And you have access to more information and learning materials than ever before in human history, thanks to the internet and the sheer breadth of access to people's knowledge. You can learn a new skill, like knitting, a new language, read up on the myths of certain cultures around the world, and indulge yourself in history.
Not only will continuing to learn keep your brain healthy as you age, but it will also constantly give you new bits of information to get excited about. You're never too old to learn something new, and you're never too old to follow your passion in it, either. Above all, remember, when you live in alignment with your truth and are feeding your mind, body, and soul with all of life’s goodness, living a happy and fulfilled life will come naturally to you.
Antasha Durbin is a spiritual writer, life-long student of the universe, and psychic tarot card reader dedicated to casualizing the spiritual experience and making it attainable for anyone, anywhere, anytime.
