It isn’t uncommon for some people to lose their sense of meaning or purpose after retirement. Below is an overview of why this happens, and how retirement apartments in Canton, MS can help.
How Life Changes After Middle Age
By middle age, a lot of people are at the zenith of their careers, and maintain active lifestyles where they might be responsible for raising children, caring for aging parents and managing a work life. While this fast paced lifestyle can be stressful, it does create meaning and purpose. Once you retire however, everything suddenly slows down.
While the increased relaxation and leisure may seem welcome at first, you may gradually begin to feel that you’re no longer making contributions, and once your children grow up and move out, it can become challenging to identify a different focus. The onset of an age related illness can complicated matters further, because you may then begin to feel that you’re a burden to the family, rather than being an asset.
A Retirement Apartment Gives You a Sense of Control
While many retirees would like to continue living in their personal residences during their golden years, illness and mobility issues can make this challenging. Tasks such as housekeeping, maintenance, cooking and personal care can quickly take its toll. Moving in with children and grandchildren may seem like a logical choice, but they have lives of their own and often lack the time, energy or expertise needed to properly care for an aging loved one.
This is why relocating into an apartment within a retirement community is advantageous. It gives you all the benefits of having a personal house, minus the maintenance hassles that comes with it. And you’ll have access to a twenty four hour team that can help you with laundry, cooking, and other daily necessities.
Retirement Apartments are Ergonomically Designed
Retirement community apartments are specially designed to accommodate those over the age of 65. For instance, many of these domiciles are one story and do not have stairs since it is hard on the knees and hips to ascend them plus there is the risk of falling down and sustaining injuries. The walkways are wide and easy to get through with non-slip flooring and the bathrooms have grab bars. Labels and signs are used to remind residents with cognitive conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s where things are located.
Retirement Apartments Give You the Opportunity to Socialize
Retirees over the age of 65 are often lonely, and research shows that there is a link between loneliness, depression and illness. Even if you’re an active elder who is perfectly capable of managing the house where you raised your kids, once they move out relocating into a retirement apartment will put you in close proximity with similarly aged individuals who you can relate to. This not only gives you the opportunity to forge new friendships, but will encourage you to become more physically active by engaging in activities such as hiking, dancing, bicycling, tennis, golf and other things, which will allow you to age gracefully while bringing meaning to your life.