Are you a senior considering the possibility of downsizing your life? Perhaps it’s time to move into an assisted living senior residence because there are so many things you can no longer do for yourself. Even some of the littlest, most mundane of chores, are beyond what you can physically manage anymore. It has taken time to admit to yourself that you are not as young as you once were, and nothing screams this truth any louder than a body that just doesn’t want to listen!
Actually, there is something else you should know about moving into a senior residence and that would be the benefit of recapturing a social life you thought you’d never see, ever again. With this in mind, let’s look at why staying social should be a motivating force simply because of all the benefits you will experience.
The Ease of Staying in Touch with Peers
One thing you might want to do if you live in the St. Louis area of Missouri would be to check out senior residences like what you will find on https://mcknightplace.com/areas-served/kirkwood/. This particular assisted living residence offers a great number of group activities designed for seniors just like yourself. You will meet new friends that will help to fill your days.
It is much easier to stay in touch with someone who lives just down the hall in another lovely senior apartment than with your friends who opted to move in with family members or perhaps moved into a senior residence like you are considering doing. In fact, maybe they are in the very one you are looking into! Wouldn’t that be nice?
An End to Loneliness and Depression
Staying social also helps to ward off loneliness that can quickly lead to depression. While you had always been so busy juggling your work and family life, there was never time to be lonely. You always had something to do and someone who relied on you for something. How you prayed for these days when you could just sit and relax.
Unfortunately, there is only so much solitude and relaxation you can take before loneliness and depression set in. Don’t think that just because you are now a senior that there are no opportunities for a social life. Ask all those residents of those assisted living apartments how easy it is for them to socialize, and you’ll have your answer.
An Opportunity to Share Your Talents
Do you ever feel like you’ve nothing left to offer? You no longer need to teach those college classes you built a career of. Perhaps you were an interior designer or a civil engineer. No matter what your talents are, once you retired it felt like you were no longer needed. That simply isn’t true!
You can always volunteer to teach a class in your field. It doesn’t take much to give a few hours a week to share the benefit of your talents and expertise. Maybe you could even be a volunteer grandparent for children who have no grandparents themselves. Maybe they’d like to meet all the other seniors where you are living. That could bring joy to your friends’ lives as well!
A Final Point to Consider
The only way to enjoy a social life is to be around other people, some of whom are just like you. Perhaps assisted living is where you’ll find those friends, so maybe that is really the direction life is calling you to take.