All Life is Learning - January 2023

OLLI’s Fun with Friends! 

Have you looked at the Winter/Spring course catalog yet? Don't miss these fascinating offerings! You can learn about history, theatre, literature, games, health, technology, social justice, and so much more. Invite a friend who shares your interests to go with you and let people who aren’t yet OLLI members in on the secret. If the courses you choose are meeting in person, you can get a group together for lunch or coffee before or after the classes. If you'd rather stay home and learn online, there are several interesting courses to choose from. Don't forget that members receive discounts!

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Exercise, Wellness, and Vigor

Retirees these days are the busiest people I know. When my mom is in Ludington or Chicago, she calls me at least once a week and is happy to talk if I call. Florida is a different story. She goes down for five months and I talk to her maybe once a month. If I call, it is never a good time. She and her husband are usually having a party or attending one. If not that, it’s perhaps book club, stretch class, pottery class, quilting class, sock-hop at the country club, women’s golf, mixed golf, pickleball, fishing on the Gulf of Mexico, or dinner with so and so. She always precludes the report with “you remember Bob and Sally;” I never do but I always say, “oh yea!”

The point is that she and many of her friends live life with VIGOR. In addition, there is so much vigor going on with the retirees that I have hit a scheduling challenge with the vitality interviews. I have requests in with several to squeeze me into their busy schedules. We will be sure to resume the series next month, but in the meantime, I thought it would be appropriate to re-run the article about vigor, since that is the main barrier keeping me from my interviews! It is a great problem.

vig•or

1. active strength or force; intensity; energy 

2. healthy physical or mental energy or power; vitality

3. healthy growth in any living matter or organism 

4. effective force 

Serving on the WMU wellness committee, we often discuss the eight dimensions of wellness as the key to living long and living well. Wellness was originally defined as the absence of disease but is now generally defined as a balance of Mental, Environmental, Financial, Intellectual, Occupational, Physical, Social, and Spiritual health. Exercise is at the top of the wellness wheel when it comes to preventing chronic disease and living with VIGOR. Newton’s first law of motion comes to mind – objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Staying physically active and having a complete exercise program that includes strength, aerobic, and flexibility will prolong our FUNCTIONAL lives and have a ripple effect on many of the other dimensions of wellness.  

I see it every day here at West Hills, where more than 600 WMU retirees have active memberships. Social interaction lends itself to social wellness, and exercise obviously addresses physical wellness, which also helps to prevent chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Being active and fit will make us feel better about ourselves and improve our self-esteem, which will positively affect mental health.  Live life with VIGOR!!

If you have questions about getting going on an exercise program or have questions about the West Hills membership benefits for WMU retirees and OLLI members, you can email me at tyler.norman@wmich.edu.  

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