September is Healthy Aging Month – an ideal time to acknowledge and celebrate that we are not aging the way our parents or even our grandparents did. This is in large part due to improvements in medical care and treatment, but also because we simply refuse to! A combination of common sense and a positive mindset can do wonders for our physical and mental health as we hit – and celebrate – our chronological milestones that were once thought of as being “old.”

Celebrate the positive aspects of aging

With people living longer than ever before, we all have more choices in how we think about and prepare for getting older.  In fact, many find that aging brings with it an increased confidence and the motivation to try certain things that may have seemed terrifying 20 years earlier.

Here are a few helpful tips to help you feel—and possibly even stay—younger mentally and physically for longer:

• Stay physically active. Low impact movements such as walking or yoga can help strengthen your bones and improve your balance, which become increasingly important as you age.
• Surround yourself with positivity. Limit negative news in your life, be around positive people, remember to smile, flirt vivaciously, and adopt a pet.
• Start something new. Want to write poetry, learn to paint, speak a second language, or play a musical instrument? Do it.
• Stay mentally engaged. Taking evening or weekend classes is a great way to keep your mind healthy and sharp, but our digital world also gives us several other options. The popular word game Wordle is one excellent example, and it has a great social component as you share and compare results with peers. Other games like crossword puzzles and Sudoku are also good options.

Take control of your health

A great way to prevent health worries is to take advantage of preventive screenings. Some important ones as we age include bone density scans, colonoscopies, mammograms, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, and all are covered as part of your Transocean preventive benefits. Your benefits also provide coverage for important vaccinations, such as influenza and shingles shots. Talk to your doctor about the specific preventive screenings and any vaccinations you might need.

It’s also important to pay attention to changing nutritional needs as you age. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends increasing your intake of vitamins D and B12, calcium, potassium, and dietary fiber. You can likely also benefit from increasing your daily protein intake, particularly if you are trying to lose weight or you are recovering from an illness.

Remember, celebrating another birthday doesn’t have to be dreadful. If you’re taking care of you, every new trip around the sun can even be an adventure!