Confidence - Is There Life After 50?

“It's never too late to be what you might have been” - George Eliot

In this seventh part of our series on Life over 50 - Neglect we look at the issues dealing with CONFIDENCE.
N - utrition
E - xercise 
G - eneral Health 
L - ongevity
E - nergy
C - ONFIDENCE
T – ime


When I first envisioned this multi-part series on 'Life after 50" I knew the acronym Neglect would work well. After all, the point of this series was to highlight how, by the age of 50, a lot of us have started to 'let things go' a little bit and addressing that idea was a great springboard to covering all the information I wanted to. I have to admit though that C really scared me! But then I started to think about the whole idea of c-onfidence and realized that it's truly central to this whole idea of taking better care of ourselves as we head into our 6th decade.


This period in our lives comes with challenges we haven't yet had to face; emerging personal health issues, children leaving the home, aging parents, changing workplace. What is it we need most to face all these life changing events? Confidence. We need to have a level of self confidence that perhaps we've never had before. As I see it (and of course I'm biased!) this level of self confidence can come only from a sense of physical and emotional strength. This is the case, if you will, that I've been trying to make throughout this series in an effort to convince as many of you as possible to establish, build and maintain a program of wellness in whatever way you are able with whatever resources you have. There is no better way to build confidence in and control of your life for the years ahead. So, with that in mind, I thought today that I'd take the opportunity to simply list some of the benefits of such a program.


Appearance - Exercise gives you confidence in how look and develops a strong body image. 


Plasticity - exercise increases the ability of the brain to handle change and stress.


Feeling of well-being - exercise increases your sense of well-being through endorphins and other neurotransmitters and is a powerful mood enhancer.


General Health - exercise and good nutrition builds a strong immune system reducing the risk of infections and disease.


Socialization - Having confidence in your physical and emotional strength breaks down the barriers to meet others.


Accomplishment - following a regular routine of strength and wellness increases your confidence to attempt other challenging tasks and projects.


Anchoring - Having a strong sense of well-being provides an anchor point in your life. 


Attention and Concentration - Exercise increase your ability to focus on specific tasks.