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| *AGING RESIDENTS UNITE” |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 22:33 |
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*AGING RESIDENTS UNITE” Alice Randall's kids are grown and gone. At age 69, she still works part time. But she misses the "connectiveness" she felt when her kids were in Edina schools, and she was busy with their activities and parent groups. "At this point in life, I'm too old for what I've been doing, and I have to move on," she said. "But I'm not ready for people to do things for me. I still want to be proactive. I still want to give." Randall is among the more than 20 percent of Edina, Minnesota residents who are 65 or older, making the suburb one of the oldest in the Twin Cities area. Now the city has begun an unusual community conversation about aging positively and productively. They are working with consultant Richard Leider, whose executive education and coaching firm is located in Edina. Leider and Mayor Jim Hovland hope that eventually the community conversation -- which is staging its third event this month -- will lead to development of a "center on positive aging." "The real purpose here is to inspire seasoned citizens to lead engaged lives, to stay learners," Leider said. By connecting those residents with one another, he said, Edina can better face the challenge of having an aging community. "Community is much more than a place. It's a state of mind. It's a shared vision, a common fate. It's not only where we live, but how we act toward each other through the life span," Leider said. As one of the metro area's more affluent suburbs, Edina has many active seniors and an array of adult education and volunteer programs. But it also has a tradition of self-sufficiency. Residents arrange for their own garbage collection. When streets in front of their homes are repaved, homeowners pay the entire bill. The positive aging initiative was Hovland's idea. He said there's a difference between residing in a city and belonging to a community. "I see a lot of folks around town that are older, and some of them express the opinion that everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning," Hovland said. "I suspect most have that reason. But it did make me think: What are we doing for citizens in the second half of life?" What Edina is doing could become a model for other cities, he said. "This whole positive aging movement knows no boundaries," he said. "It's a worldwide societal issue. ... Increasingly, people are looking at what makes a community a community. You can have a lot of people in a place like Edina [who are] very isolated." Last fall, Leider's first speech in Edina on what was called "the adult community initiative" was expected to draw about 50 people. An overflow crowd of 200 attended. …Leider points to a recent MetLife Mature Market Institute Study that interviewed 1,001 people between the ages of 45 and 75 about what defines "the good life." The survey found that those who said their lives had purpose were far more likely to say they were happy and contented than those who did not. Older people put less emphasis on wealth accumulation than younger people and were most likely to say what matters to them is "meaning-related" activities like spending time with family and enjoying personal pursuits. "Meaning trumps money at all ages for those seeking 'the good life,'" Leider said. From: “Aging Residents Strive to Connect in Retirement” by Mary Jane Smetanka, from the Minneapolis Star & Tribune, sent by Richard Leider to the Positive Aging newsletter. Thank you, Richard! |