Baby Boomers Coping With Midlife

Every year ushers in another birthday and another notch on the headboard of your life. And each year brings another challenge in dealing with growing older.

As you enter or work through midlife, you are experiencing many drastic changes. Your body parts are shifting, you're gaining or losing weight; your face may have more wrinkles. Your hair is thinning or turning grey and your memory may not be as sharp. But through all of these changes, one thing stays the same. You are able to cope and you are proving that to yourself every day.

What are the signs that you are doing well? The following are some skills that indicate your resourcefulness and vitality.
1. Your thoughts stay directed on lifelong learning and personal growth.

2. You maintain a sense of purpose and are driven to fulfill a certain goal or passion.

3. You believe that everything happens for a reason and you easily adapt to the changes you experience.

4. You continually believe that life is to be lived and that you are entitled to fun and frivolity.

5. You are attuned to your body and practice healthy eating and adequate exercise to maintain good health.

6.You feel younger than your chronological age and enjoy being around people younger than you.

7.You rely on others to help get you through difficult times and to relieve your stress.

8. You believe that every year you are getting better and better.

9. You enjoy a healthy and hearty sense of humor.

10. You can pace yourself and find time to smell the roses.

If you can relate to some but not all of the above list, it could mean that your attitudes, beliefs and coping skills are limiting you. You certainly don't want to feel older than you actually are. Rather, you want to exude high energy and postpone the aging process for as long as you can.

Practice these 10 skills and you may find the changes you experience are painless and profound, and that you are feeling emotionally and physically more fit. After all, why age - when you're still young at heart?