Health & Wellness
BOOMER VISION: The Most Important Bone in the Body
By Estelle Brewer
What is our most important bone? This is an interesting and important question. (And becomes more so as we age.) It depends on which medical article you read, or which drug ad you hear as to which bone is actually considered the most important.
In my opinion, it is the funny bone. Yes, often named but never x-rayed… the funny bone.
What informs my answer? The reading of many articles on how to age healthfully. Retaining a sense of humor into our senior years is invaluable for our positive outlook on life. Sharing time with friends is another key component to healthy senior living. I am “happy” to share some fine examples of when exercising and caring for your funny bone is needed:
- Buying a friend the same gift you gave her for a past birthday is one indication that you need to use your funny bone. You must learn to laugh it off in this situation. It must have been an appropriate gift before, so she should enjoy it again!
- Purchasing gifts ahead of time to avoid the rush, then forgetting where you hid them. Again, laugh it off as your house gets better organized; maybe you’ll relocate an item you had been searching for last month, or last year.
- Sending a thoughtful card to an ill friend and duplicating the same gesture with the same card a few weeks later. If she mentions it, laugh it off and remark that you think of her so often and thought she needed extra cheering.
Hold it! I know you are thinking that these are disturbing signs of forgetfulness (or dare I say, dementia?). But not necessarily so. One theory by experts is that as we age, we have so much data in our brains that the space for more details becomes increasingly limited.
The myth of having plenty of time when you retire is just that… a myth. As senior citizens, we have many activities and responsibilities. So, as we scurry (yes, we can still scurry!) around with meetings, babysitting, transporting, visiting, shopping, cooking, some things are relegated to the back of our minds. That is not dementia!
One particularly excellent way to exercise your funny bone is to disengage and observe your son or daughter parenting your grandchildren. I know some of you may not be in this situation. But for those who are, this activity can be amusing, if not downright hilarious. Laugh it off! (Even if only privately.) That lowers the intensity and avoids possible interference and conflict for you and your family. Let it bring back memories of funny situations from the past that are worth sharing with your adult child as a matter of perspective.
Learning to see the humor in everyday situations strengthens your funny bone to combat stress and anxiety. Furthermore, being able to see yourself in the situation is ideal. Years ago, my college roommate told me she was taking her mother and her mother-in-law on a trip. The ladies were in the backseat of her car and before they had even traveled 20 miles, one of the ladies exclaimed, “Oh no! We have to go back! I’ve lost my pocketbook.” My friend calmly said, “MeMaw, we haven’t stopped anywhere yet. You have it somewhere in the backseat with you.”
I remembered this story when I had the occasion to have a brief panic attack when I couldn’t find my purse in the car and realized that my car would not have started without the key fob located inside the purse somewhere in the car!
A friend was well known for her outstanding banana pudding.
She signed up to bring it to the church picnic. During the picnic, she complained to me that it just didn’t taste right. It was not her usual pudding, and she couldn’t figure out why. When I tasted it, I found it to be rich, creamy, and delicious—but without a single banana in it! I didn’t want to tell her because I knew she had kept her grandchildren overnight, fed them breakfast, and taught a Sunday School class before coming to the event. But I decided that we should both strengthen our funny bones and giggle about it.
There is something to the old adage, “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.” Keep loving, living, and laughing.
– The (giggling) Estelle Brewer