“If You Are A Senior or Love Someone Who Is….*”

Then this blog is for you!

When we started our business we were located in the same building as Eastern Agency on Aging – 81 Main Street  in Downtown Bangor, Maine.  The building is small and there always seemed to be a steady stream of people going in and out of their offices.  One of those people, Carol Higgins-Taylor was one of those people. She worked for the agency.  I met her one day and every day since when I see her she puts a smile on my face.  She is warm, smart and hysterical.

My Resource

I met Carol 15 years ago.  Lots of things were different back then, my father was alive, my Mom newly widowed, I was newly divorced and living in a new town with a new company.  But Carol is the same. Friendly, kind and whenever I have a question about getting help or advice in being a better daughter to aging parents, I can email Carol.  Today, Carol owns a PR Agency, (and our office has moved too), her specialty is Seniors and families. She often points me back to Eastern Agency on Aging and even though Mom is in Southern Maine, the resources are there too.

Knowledge is Power

I say this all the time.  Usually, it means, Knowledge gives me “piece of mind.”  I hate feeling like I cannot help my Mother.  I need support to navigate our (Mom’s and mine) journey together.

Senior Expo 2016

Sr.ExpoThursday, May 26th at Husson is the Senior Expo.  While you may think this is JUST for the OLD FOLKS it isn’t.   In the Newman Gym there are exhibitors – It really is a big Resource Room.  Come through, browse at your leisure.  It’s FREE.  And starting at 10am are Presentations in the Meeting House/Gracie Theatre Building. A Wide range of topics, Living With a Wound, Healthy Living For Your Brain and Body, Caregiving for your loved one with Dementia to Chair Yoga.

 

Come See, Come Learn. Stay for as long as you can. Feel the power of the Network.  With Carol at the Helm of this Event, it is something not to miss.

 

*Carol Higgins-Taylor – preceding her weekly Radio Show Senior Talk on WVOM. Click here FMI.

First Things… FIRST

Are Your Teeth-Clenched and Your Shoulders Tight?

Next time you sit down at your computer, pick up your smartphone or tablet, take notice of how you feel?  Are you happy to see the latest news or are you feeling overwhelmed?  “I can’t do this!”  “I don’t understand this!”  “What is wrong with me?”

If you have any of those questions, it is possible that you do actually feel TRAPPED, just like this blog’s title.  Feeling TRAPPED creates many reactions in your body. FIGHT or FLIGHT, right?

FIGHT or FLIGHTRelaxed senior woman doing some breathing exercises

When it is “Fight” you want to beat up whatever is causing you to feel trapped, (which can be expensive if you throw your cell phone around) or “Flight” you try and escape. When you try to escape,  chances are you cannot learn or do what it was you wanted in the first place. Which may be as simple as trying to look at your grandchild’s prom photo. In either case, you are the one that loses.

Try Something New

I am not a doctor. But I have noticed that when I am feeling trapped myself that everything in my body feels tight.  And when everything feels tight, it is hard for me to think clearly. One thing I have learned a lot about in my life is the importance of breathing.  When we get that Trapped feeling we tend to hold our breath.  Right now, try clenching your first.  When you look down at that fist all tight, check your breathing.  Most of us will be holding our breath.  If you are holding your breath, it is difficult to think straight and solve problems.

Here is a great article * from Dr. Anthony Komaroff, from Harvard Medical School that is worth reading, about stress and breathing. Some people have preconceived ideas about meditation and yoga but each of these practices showed me how often I failed to breathe. When I was often in a situation that was stressful or sad, I was holding my breath. It was surprised to learn that when I caught myself holding my breath, once I started to breathe again I could start working to solve the problem at hand.

Give it a Whirl

breathing_in_and_outIt takes just a few minutes, this website here actually has a nice instructional way of explaining * the timing of doing it, and it is well worth it.  I find  I start thinking clearly, act more calmly.  When I have a method to do this to stop and count my breaths it really helps. Otherwise, I haven’t really stopped and refocused with a clear head after all!

 

*I have no affiliation with these organizations or websites, I just find them easy to read and understand and that is always worth sharing. I also want to thank them for the use of their photos.

More Identity Theft

This is a scam that originated in August of 2005, settled down for a while and now seems to be ignited again.

You are to do your civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. Most people don’t like having rearrange their whole lives around sitting in a room awaiting for their to be name called. And more and more people are deciding to skip out on this responsibility. But arrest warrants can be issued for people that fail to appear for jury duty, so deciding not to or thinking you didn’t report when called on, can create an intimidating situation.

Of course then enter the “opportunists.” The phone rings at your house and the caller claims to be a jury coordinator.

If you tell them you never received a summons for jury duty, the caller asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so it can be verified.

Once they “verify your PERSONAL information” they tell you they can cancel the arrest warrant. What you don’t know is they aren’t verifying anything, they aren’t canceling any warrant, they ARE stealing your identity, but in reality, you just gave it to them.

This all may sound silly to you, but do check in with your parents or other seniors in your life. They are particularly at risk for these schemes and the callers tend to be bullies.

The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Here is a link to the page on the FBI site, so you can read it for yourself. And like a previous post on this blog, snopes has it too.