Surviving the U (How to Bump the Slump)


I am a visual learner, so let's start off with a picture and then I will explain it below.

The picture:


The explanation:

This simple graph shows the correlation between age and well-being in the United States. Respondents rated their life satisfaction on a scale of 0-10, with zero being the worst and 10 being the best.  Age goes across the bottom, satisfaction scores on the left.  Do you see the slump?  It's sort of hard not to!!

I recently had a conversation with a friend and she commented that she thought that at this point in her life, things were supposed to get easier.  You are never supposed to talk about a women's age or weight, but she is somewhere near the nadir of the curve above.  I'm guessing her life satisfaction was low and I can totally relate as  I'm 54 and looking for the upswing.  To be honest, the last couple of years absolutely sucked as I watched my marriage unravel in the worst possible way, moved, and went into business for myself.  I am waiting for the universe to throw me a bone so I can start enjoying the uptick.  And this got me thinking---maybe I have to make my own uptick.  Maybe, just maybe, if I cleaned off my internal lens on how I look at life, I can get this party started. So this blog is really a to do list for me and I appreciate you stopping by, so here are some tips from Dennis to Dennis, and let me know what you think:

Tips:


  • Life is hard.  No duh, but when my friend stated that she thought life should be easier at this point and I wholeheartedly agreed with her.  I need to remember that life is hard and always will be until the day you die. If I just get that phrase through my thick skull, my perspective can, and will change for the better.
  • Lower your expectations.  Years ago, I found a bird stuck in a sewer and I lowered a hockey stick down and the bird hopped on it and I got it out.  Maybe that was the sole reason I was put on this planet.  I think there is more to this life, but maybe that bird saving MacGyver move will be the highlight that gets me into heaven.  I will have to die to find out, and I am in no rush, but my expectations are lowering as I type.
  • Be aware of the slump and try not to make any rash decisions during this era.  Suicide rates are very high for 44-54 year old men and women, and that darn graph may explain it.  Don't have that affair, don't make a crazy purchase, don't judge your previous years harshly.  In fact, you should put off all major life decisions until you hit the top of the graph which looks to be about 95 years old. (sarcasm)
  • Work on your social connections....and it is work.  Stay in touch with folks and don't become a hermit. Hope and social connection are powerful tools in the life satisfaction business.  Join a club that interests you and socialize.  I recently went on a hike with ten total strangers and I'm telling you that was a good day.  Damn good day!
  • Be grateful.  Grateful that you may be at the bottom of the slump and things will get better.  Be thankful you are alive to experience the slump.  Just be grateful, and it is a skill that takes practice.  Practice gratefulness daily.
Well thanks for reading this far----hey I just practiced gratefulness!  I am teachable! If this subject intrigues you, check out these articles:




Bump the slump----you've got this!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What A Week I'm Having!

Classic line from a classic movie: Splash (1984).  In this particular scene, Walter Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) attempts to stop a military convoy chasing Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks) and the girl/fish Madison (Darryl Hannah) by standing in the road and raising his only good arm.  Walter is unsuccessful and ends up on the side of the road where he utters this famous expression of exasperation "What A Week I am Having!".   Well what a week I am having and I mean that in a good way.  I started out last Sunday, 9/11/2011, by driving home from my parents house in Wilmington, NC and already dreading the meeting I was to have on Monday afternoon at lunch.  I am on the committee for the Out of The Darkness Walk here in Columbia, SC and so far I haven't done jack s@*t.  Sorry for the curse word, but it is true.  I went to a few meetings missed a few more and all the time I knew what was going on---passive aggressive behavior at it's best.  The good folks at Wik...
Read more

USA and Debt....how hard can this be?

I am by no means a financial expert and I have the meager checkbook to prove it, but my gut tells me that my country (USA) cannot continue to ignore our growing debt.  While writing this I took a quick peek at our debt clock and immediately felt sick.  See for yourself:   http://www.usdebtclock.org/ The current congress is impotent, even the women, and every president in my lifetime was clueless on how to reel in spending.  To that end I, Dennis Martin Gillan, being of sound mind (sort of) propose the following measures in order to right this sinking ship we call America: Sorry friends and foes, effective immediately all foreign aid is suspended.  Yes this will chap some countries and some may argue that this will threaten world peace.  OK...how much money have we pumped into the middle east and how peaceful is it right now?  Here are the top ten countries that are going to be upset with this policy:   http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/ful...
Read more

Lower the Drinking Age For Alcohol & Raise the Legal Age for Broccoli Consumption

Image
image via sciencetimes.com Lower the Drinking Age For Alcohol & Raise the Legal Age for Broccoli Consumption  Binge drinking problem solved.  Next up Cancer.  Wait you need a little more explanation?  OK here I go: Alcohol use in underage kids is an issue.  Heard this morning that 1800 kids die per year on college campuses alone, add in those untold numbers that happen outside of the college arena and yeah, it’s an issue.  As a father of two boys, one now over the legal age and one trying like heck to get there, and I have some skin in the game as well and here is my well thought out solution.  LOWER THE DRINKING AGE TO 14 AND TELL KIDS THEY CANNOT HAVE BROCCOLI UNTIL THEY ARE 21. Let’s unpack the first part of my ingenious solution---lowering the drinking age.  When I was a kid (oh shoot I just became my dad) the drinking age was 18.  At this age you typically were on your way out of high school and heading towards work,...
Read more