Senior Manifesto #2: 31 New Suggestions For A More Thoughtful Month By Jane Seskin

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1) Quit saying you’re too old.

2) Believe you can change.

3) Let go of people who deplete.

4) Take responsibility for your mistakes.

5) Keep an alcohol consumption diary for a month.

6) Hold onto your power. Don’t give it away.

7) Smile at one and all.

8) When service is poor, speak to a manager.

9) Put your feet up.

10) Make a list of your credit card numbers.

11) Snack on 23 almonds a day, one ounce.

12) Take the stairs.

13) No, you don’t have to like everyone.

14) Get in car butt first.

15) Teach what you know.

16) Order a free credit report.

17) OHIO for mail – Only Handle It Once.

18) Eliminate the word “but.”

19) When you’re sad tell someone.

20) Don’t fill the silence in conversations.

21) Learn to live with unanswered questions.

22) Today, talk don’t text.

23) Feel the fear and still go on.

24) Take a weekend vacation each season.

25) Tweeze your chin.

26) Avoidance is a stop-gap, not a solution.

27) Make rugs slip-resistant.

28) Nightly ask: What did I learn today?

29) Selfish is taking care of self.

30) Each day you get a chance to do something kind.

31) Honor your resilience.

Jane Seskin is a licensed clinical social worker and the author of 13 books. Her most recent is the poetry collection: Older Wiser Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65, which you can purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop. Her poems and essays have appeared in more than 40 publications (Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, Persimmon Tree, Next Avenue, NYT). She’s been a contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul Anthology series. Jane has been a writer-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Follow her work on Instagram and Facebook and find out more at her website, janeseskin.com.