Whether he was aware of it or not, in one of the many press conferences during this past week the England manager Gareth Southgate made rather a profound statement about those years of waiting; “We always have to believe in what is possible in life and not be hindered by history or expectations.”
The Admin. for Community Living – a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – believes that when older adults and communities stay connected, everyone wins.
That’s why “Connect” is the first step of the three-part theme for Older Americans Month 2019: Connect, Create, Contribute. Celebrated every May, Older Americans Month is a catalyst for people of all ages to connect and participate in a larger conversation about aging in America — a conversation that grows in importance as the number of older Americans continues to increase. This theme helps remind us to connect with friends, family and services that support participation. It reminds us to create by engaging in activities that promote learning, health and personal enrichment. It reminds us also to contribute our time, talent and life experiences to benefit others.
At the beginning of 2000, 46 million Americans were older than age 60. By next year – 2020 – that number is expected to reach more than 77 million! Celebrating Older Americans Month is a good time for us to honor your contributions to our community. As volunteers, educators, mentors, advocates – you have offered your insight and experience in ways that benefit our Beatitudes community as well as the broader community. You have enriched our neighborhoods and communities through your work ethic and sacrifice to expand the promise of prosperity. Communities that encourage your contributions are stronger. With your engagement and support, we recognize that you play a key role in the vitality of Beatitudes Campus and in our lives.
We are honored that Phoenix Mayor, Kate Gallego, and Arizona Governor, Doug Ducey, proclaimed—at Beatitudes Campus Foundation’s request – that May 2019 would be celebrated as Older Americans Month. The White House also issued a proclamation for Older Americans Month, saying, in part, “Older Americans are treasured members of our communities. They have poured their lives into our country in ways seen and unseen—often at great personal sacrifice. During Older Americans Month, we honor these Americans, we remember their countless contributions, and we proudly renew our abiding commitment to their well-being.”
Beatitudes Campus is investing today to create a network of programs and amenities to inspire, support and empower you, our residents, as well as future residents to lead healthy, enriched and fulfilled lives. One way we are doing that is by connecting—connecting you with programs that are offered on campus, connecting you with one another and connecting you with us to help us discover new ideas.
Beatitudes Campus Foundation wants to connect with you! We will host a Foundation Open House on Wednesday, May 22, from 1:30 to 3PM, in the Agelink Lobby area. It will be an informal drop-in – drinks and treats provided! You can find out what the Foundation does and you can get to know the Foundation team – Barbara Wood, Linda Travis and Ray Gonzales. But, most importantly, we will be able to hear from you and hear about your ideas! We look forward to building connections with you.
Radical: “out of the ordinary,” “revolutionary”, favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions. Hospitality: generous and friendly treatment of visitors and guests. Put them together and you are part of a movement that began a few years back but is still every bit of who we are as a community.
What does it mean for us to have someone we have never met and has no relationship to us – in other words, a stranger – being treated by every single one of us at Beatitudes Campus with not just politeness, but overwhelming “revolutionary” generosity? It is radical!
Back when I served a church, I had a relationship with a Samoan United Church of Christ Congregation where I was invited to preach. I did not realize at the time that, in their culture, the minister was considered the descendent of what once was the Chief of all of Samoa. Consequently, ministers are treated like royalty today. That was a new experience for me to be sure. I am not saying I have been mistreated as a clergyperson – except for some hate mail now and then from some justice issues I stood for. Being treated like royalty, though, was not an experience I was accustomed to in the American church. But at this church I was showered with a plate of food so big that it was a weeks’ worth in one sitting. (After a stomach ache later, I learned that it is permissible to take some home.) I was given gift after gift including every member and child giving dollar bills or more to me as I was seated in front of them – and not just once but numerous times by each. It was an experience that I will never forget and a people I will always cherish.
What was amazing to me was how authentic and heartfelt it was; it was their culture but it was also them. There was such a deep feeling of sincerity in their gestures that it moved me deeply. It was the most radical of all hospitality experiences I have ever happened upon.
I want you to feel that way here at Beatitudes Campus. I want to feel that way. I want all staff to feel that same way when they are around you and me. I want every guest, volunteer, visitor, prospective resident, family member or stranger to have a radical hospitality experience. There is not a person in the community, from any faith, any race, any sexual orientation, any gender who is not worthy of our most radical of all welcomes. It is how everybody deserves to feel when they walk into our Beatitudes Community. It is a spiritual experience when it happens, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to make sure it does here (ok, minus the money—no tipping policy, you know).
For many older adults who are currently independent, but like the idea of living in a setting where healthcare services are available if needed down the road, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC also known as a Life Plan Community) can be an ideal solution.
Many Beatitudes Campus prospects ask us, “When is the best time to make the move?” Many of you reading this article remember wrestling with this question yourself. There is no perfect answer to this question because everyone’s situation will be different. However, waiting too long can mean missing out on some of the very reasons people are attracted to a life plan community in the first place.
We often counsel that if you feel that a continuing care retirement life plan community is right for you, here are a few reasons why you may want to consider moving sooner rather than later:
Involvement: One of the main benefits of living in a community like Beatitudes is having easy access to a vast array of services, amenities and activities. Many of these perks take place within the walls of the community, but we are increasingly providing ways for residents to stay involved in the broader community through service projects, the 19North Neighborhood Association, our Life Long Learning adult education classes, and more. Many of you can well attest to the fact that moving earlier allows residents to more fully enjoy and benefit from these “extra-curricular” activities. As we talk with those considering the campus, it’s often a story they are eager to hear from you. We so appreciate our Resident Ambassadors who are so willing to talk about their experiences weighing all the factors……and almost always, it’s about the environment of purposeful living so much a part of the fabric of the campus. If you are interested in taking the training and becoming an Ambassador, please contact the Marketing Office and see how you can become involved.
Wellness: We strive to help residents stay healthy and live independently as long as possible. Comprehensive health and wellness programs include access to qualified fitness professionals, special diet meal plans, our aquatic and fitness centers, low-impact aerobics, and yoga classes, just to name a few. Additionally, we continue to emphasize a “whole-person” concept, including emotional, spiritual, intellectual, vocational, and spiritual experiences, and have an award-winning Success Matters program which provides the opportunity to assess what makes up your best path to maximize independence.
Relationships: Residents of life plan communities often say that one of the best things about them is the friendships they have formed with other residents. That is absolutely the hallmark of Beatitudes Campus. Those who wait too long to make the move may not have the time to develop meaningful relationships, which can be particularly helpful as part of a support network if healthcare needs arise in the future. Again, prospects are very interested in your stories and we will be reaching out and providing opportunities to highlight them in our publications and website in the next few months.
The number of folks considering the campus right now is very high. We already have 28 of the 34 patio homes that will open beginning in early 2019, committed and several others have placed a hold. Additionally, we have begun the B V.I.P. Program for the new Promenade Residences to be built on the site of the former Garden Apartments and have more than 40 who have been given priority numbers. And our current living options are seeing more inquiries than at any time in the last four years!
So, with all this activity, do we need your help? Absolutely! Our mission is to provide what we believe is the best in purposeful, resident-centered senior living for as many folks as possible. So, don’t forget the Friends and Family Resident Referral Program which pays you or your family member for successful recommendations of prospects to the campus. Stop by the Marketing Office for details so we can provide you a referral form.
So, when is the best time to move to the campus? Many of you would answer with a hardy, “right now!” This is literally one of the most dynamic times at the campus since its original founding and we are anxious to share the excitement with as many as possible. Thanks so much for all the many ways you help us every day! Viva la Beatitudes!*
One of our greatest responsibilities as staff serving you is to be the best stewards possible of our resources. Every few months we analyze our systems and costs looking for inefficiencies and waste. If discovered, we aim to take immediate action to quickly minimize its impact. We have watched for some time the lower participation in our Sunday dining option at Buckwald’s Arizona Grille. In that the low attendance simply does not justify the labor and food costs, we have made the decision to realign our Sunday experience Campus-wide. Beginning in March, we will close Buckwald’s on Sundays, but Sundays will still be offering you great options.
Our intention is to continue a once-monthly Sunday Brunch in Elaine’s Fine Dining. The new design will not include a buffet, but rather a delicious menu enticing you to want to bring friends and family for this special experience. Should we see this become as popular as we believe it will be, we will expand the number of Sundays. If the day comes that we are busting at the seams for Sunday brunch, we will absolutely revisit expanding back to Buckwald’s. Again, our goal is to balance costs with the greatest dining experiences possible.
We will be closed effective March 10, 2019 on Sundays.
I am grateful to our Dining Services Team for their continuous commitment to providing the best dining experiences and options with the most efficient use of our resources.
Rev. David W. Ragan, Senior Vice President of Resident Services
Joe Kane, Director of Dining Services
On August 22nd my husband and I will be taking our daughter Maddie up to Northern Arizona University to begin college. There have been many plans and preparations throughout her senior year as she diligently applied to various colleges and scholarships and took all the required preparatory exams. Then came the BIG decision—which college will it be? When she decided on NAU there was momentary relief that the decision was made and then the next stage of preparations began as we learned about all that she needs to bring with her, who will be her roommate and in which dorm she will live. During these days attention is mostly showered on Maddie as people ask with excitement where she will be going to college?! However, I’m finding that those same people turn to me to ask, “And how are you doing mom? You’re going to be an empty nester!” When the kid flies from the nest everyone wonders what the parents are going to do with all their newly found time! My heart is not breaking as my child leaves home. She is excited to test her wings and learn about life as an independent adult. I, of course, will miss her and I’m sure I will worry more than I need to at times but I am excited that her life will be filled with fresh and new experiences. It’s helpful to remind myself that life is a balance of holding on and letting go. The prophet Khalil Gibran’s poem On Children says it all:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
How’s life? I hope so very good. Did you know, though, that just a few years back a national survey discovered that the number of retirees who say their retirement is “very satisfying” has dropped nearly 13% in the last decade and below the 50% level for the first time? Theories are being generated as to why. Some suggest it is for financial reasons and more prevalent theories deduce that is comes from the yearning for more and varied activities than is often available to them.
An article from the website MarketWatch has some excellent advice on how to make life good. Most of you know this all too well, but I wanted to share some of it so as to affirm your excellent instincts.
Stay socially connected. Keeping up with old friends and making new ones is extremely vital to one’s emotional outlook – your mental health. New friends often open our minds to new thoughts and new experiences. There is not a better set up than the Beatitudes community for that. Consider joining someone you do not know for lunch or dinner, or greeting and talking with a neighbor you have never really spent time with. Don’t forget the New Neighbor Welcome Coffee every 4th Community Wednesday either. Meet them right off the bat.
Find things you love to do. Research shows that the happiest retirees are those who keep themselves busy. Another researcher and author notes that, “Following your interests and passions can add years to your life, and joy to your golden years.” Think about those things that have brought you joy over the years of your life and do them again. There probably was never a good reason to stop doing them anyway other than life got too busy. Beatitudes has nearly 100 groups and activities taking place right now, and if per chance not a one of those is your passion, let us know and we will make it happen and bet others will want to be part of it too. We will get you the list if the Beatitudes Calendar does not have something calling out to you today.
Plan the use of your time. Rob Pascale, a psychologist and the co-author of “The Retirement Maze,” cautions that “without adequate planning, you have a lack of structure, and that can make you feel you have little personal control over your life.” Write out your goals for each day, week or month. Plan out your participation with a good number of those over 100 groups and activities.
The article concludes with something that all of us know and that is, if we create the expectations for happiness and joy the more likely we will meet or exceed them.
So let’s plan on it. Make life good, beginning today and every day.
Tips for surviving the holidays without sacrificing your weight-loss goals
No one wants to be a killjoy at a Christmas party or a family get-together. But when it comes to dealing with the temptations of the season’s high-calorie bounty, you don’t have to be a Grinch.
You do need a plan, says Susan J. Bartlett, Ph.D., an associate director of clinical psychology at Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center in Baltimore and a specialist in weight and eating disorders. Last year, she led a small group at the center through the following eat-right strategies. Her expertise and her students’ experiences provide practical lessons for anyone to try.
SOME TIPS
Machu Picchu by Georgianna Palmer
(We climbed with friends the stones of Machu Picchu, one of the Wonders of the World.)
In the late 1970’s, my husband Mike and I were members of the Paradise Valley Racquet Club. We met interesting couples there with whom we played tennis and with whom we socialized.
We became very close friends with one of the couples that we met. Suresh was a physician who was born in India; his wife Trudy was a vivacious redhead born in Germany.
They had two bright and charming children, Miriam and Robert, both of whom I adored.
Suresh was invited to attend a conference of physicians to be held in Lima, Peru. Suresh and his family urged us to accompany them. We jumped at the chance, not only to enjoy the company of our good friends, but to enlarge our experiences of the world.
We had never seen such poverty as we saw in Lima. Children followed us everywhere begging for a handout. Young mothers sat on blankets cradling their tiny babies, holding their hands out, their eyes entreating pitifully. Our guide warned us not to be too generous or they would tell their friends and we would have no peace. Miriam and Robert could hardly believe what they saw. They had been raised in luxury with private schools, tennis, and riding lessons. They were learning about how others in the world lived. It was an education for us all.
We also got the opportunity to see in the Andes one of the Wonders of the World–Machu Picchu–a city built by ancient Inca tribes on the top of a high, steep mountain.
The Incan civilization began in the 13th century until they were conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Their religion was centered around the worship of Inti, their sun god. They built Machu Picchu in honor of this god. They mined stones from a quarry at the site, lined them up and shaped them to fit together perfectly, so perfectly that they have remained in place for centuries without the help of mortar.
To be able to visit this ancient city we traveled by bus which spiraled the steep mountain roads. There was a young boy who stood silently by the door of our bus as we boarded. He could have been about 10 or 11 years old. He watched us with sad eyes. We saw him again on the next level of our spiral up the mountain, and we realized that he had run straight up the mountain to wave at us in the bus as we turned through the hairpin curves.. On the next spiral level, there he was again. He was wearing rubber goulashes. He appeared again every time we made our turn all the way to the top.
After our tour, we boarded our bus and spiraled down. We saw him again each time we circled the mountain on the way down. At the bottom, there he was with his hand out as we stepped out the bus door. Of course, everyone gave him at least a dollar and smiled at him appreciatively. This enterprising young man must have gone home with what was to him a fortune.
We returned to Lima and took some pictures of the city and the natives. Everyone on the street seemed to be carrying bags of wares to sell to the tourists. We noticed that many of the men and women wore distinctive hats with high crowns. These hats, we were told, designated a special status of which they were particularly proud. They were mestizos, which means half-breeds. They walked proudly, aware of their specialness.
The trip was quite an adventure. My husband seemed to enjoy that everyone on the trip assumed that he was a doctor, letting him pretend and enjoy a special status of his own. He gave fleeting thought to changing careers.
As I sat down to write this week’s article, I found myself thinking about the amazing energy a new year brings. There is something very special about it- it’s a blank page, a new chapter, some even consider it a new book. Whether you set resolutions, goals, or simply an intention for the coming 365 days, the new year brings motivation and creates new opportunities. Below is an article that was shared with me by Valerie Cantrell, my executive assistant, and I share it with you today. We, as a community and as individuals, have many opportunities in 2016 and I look forward to the journey with all of you.
Excerpts from Inspiring Success Blog
Opportunities Created
A new year always brings new opportunities. The beginning of the year brings a special atmosphere that motivates action, and that’s – an opportunity!
Here are some opportunities that I strongly recommend:
This is one of the major tools that will allow you to grow and develop. The best way to make a new year better than the previous year is through self-examination.
What did you do better? Where did you failed?
Who do you have to thank? Who do you need to forgive and to whom should you apologize?
Where you stand in terms of realizing your goals and dreams?
Who doesn’t want to “collect” new experiences? The beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to make a change and gain new experiences with which you build the history of your life. Such experiences can be spiritual or material, they can be large or small. These experiences are of the things that make a new year, a great year.
Sometimes the difference between success and failure is just trying one more time. A new year brings a different perspective. A new year can bring a new approach. “If something is not working for you, leave it, relax, rest and then come back to it.” A new year is a good opportunity to “attack” a stubborn difficulty; a new year is a great opportunity to change your approach and turn the difficulty into a challenge.
We all have a family member, friend, colleague, or mentor we haven’t been in touch with for a long time.
I’m sure there are many reasons…Routine and a busy schedule. The end of one stage in life and the beginning of another. The New Year is a special period of time in which you leave the reasons a side and move into action.
Setting goals is as important as breathing oxygen. Setting goals focuses you and gives you the strength to continue in spite of the uncertainties and difficulties. Many successful people say that setting goals “is one of the main reasons that allow you to get up in the morning with a smile on your face, even when the situation is not that good.” The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to set new goals.
For the full article go to: http://inspiring-success.info/index.php/articles-section/110-new-year-new-beginning#.Vo7IMnop1uM.email
