February may be best known as the month of love, but filling your heart and your days with what brings you joy is the true foundation of a happy and rewarding lifestyle.
Love is in the air, so it’s a great time to ask yourself whether you’re loving life to the fullest or your regular routine is standing in your way. Your answer may be an invitation to explore how you can bring more joy into your days.
If you find chores are demanding more of your time and your daily routine has grown stale, it may be time to consider a change. Senior independent living communities make it easy for older adults to embrace retirement on their own terms and leave the extras, like lawn work and home maintenance, behind.
How Routines Contribute to Healthy Lifestyle
A familiar routine can be a good thing. Knowing what to expect, and when, offers the human brain a certain level of comfort. It’s why children thrive on a predictable daily schedule, and parenting experts recommend bedtime routines to ease little ones into bed.
It’s really no different as you travel through the stages of life. Having your days built around a familiar structure eases anxiety and frees your mind to focus on other tasks. In short, routines are tools for managing your mental health and nurturing your cognitive function.
As an older adult, you have the experience to know that routines bring blessings — but over time, those rituals and schedules may feel more confining than comforting. That’s when you know it’s time to explore how new routines can serve you better.
Consider a Routine Refresh
Before you revamp your daily routine, it’s a good idea to begin by examining what needs to change so you can confidently say you’re loving life as a retiree. What, specifically, would you cut from your regular routine if you could? What would you add? Take steps to refresh your daily and weekly routines by thinking about changes that will allow you to:
Enjoy a living space you don’t have to maintain.
For most of your life, you’ve probably known that having a nice home and surroundings takes work. Up until now, that’s generally been true. However, as a retiree you have new options, including senior independent living apartments designed especially for older adults who are eager to embrace a simpler pace of life in retirement.
Once you begin exploring communities offering independent living in Kankakee, you’re sure to find an apartment that suits your needs, whether a cozy one bedroom is to your liking or you prefer a spacious two-bedroom apartment with plenty of room for guests. If an elevated living experience with high-quality finishes is a priority, a community such as Westwood at Riverside Senior Life may be just what you have in mind.
But inviting living space aside, even better is the reprieve from the demands of maintaining your home. The community provides all exterior landscaping and groundskeeping, including snow removal, as well as interior maintenance — even for minor tasks like swapping out light bulbs — freeing time for you to fill your day doing whatever makes you happy. What’s more, residents receive regular housekeeping and linen service, so they can count on a clean, fresh living space and put their free time to use in more enjoyable ways.
Take an easier path toward better health.
If you’ve ever thought that you’d be more committed to healthy habits if they weren’t so much work, you might be especially intrigued by the wellness program available through many independent living communities. Thanks to dining plans with chef-prepared meals, residents don’t have to worry about routine tasks like shopping or cooking, but they can count on thoughtfully prepared nutritious meals that provide energy and motivation every day.
Programming that promotes healthy habits for seniors is also a priority for independent living communities, since protecting residents and helping ensure a high quality of life is the community’s core purpose. As you begin exploring communities that might be a fit for you, look for amenities such as a fitness center, pool and outdoor spaces with walking trails for fresh-air exercise so you have plenty of options to put your wellness front and center.
Also pay attention to the types of group activities, classes and enrichment programming the community offers. From fitness classes to hobby activities to lifelong learning, you should be able to find a number of resources that help nurture your overall well-being.
Fill your days with hobbies, time with friends and travel.
Setting aside the time commitment of cleaning and maintaining your home, your days would be yours to fill with activities you enjoy and quality time with the people you love. And it’s entirely up to you.
Residents of independent living communities have an advantage when it comes to filling their leisure time, since the community setting puts a world of options at your doorstep. As a resident, you might explore a new hobby or resurrect a passion from your youth. You might invest some time in a subject you’ve always found fascinating or deepen your commitment to a nonprofit cause that touches your heart.
Living in an independent living community also makes travel easier, since you know your home and belongings are secure. That means you’re free to take a quick jaunt to visit dear friends or family, or you might take on a big adventure to see places you’ve dreamt of exploring for years.
A Valentine to Yourself
Adjusting your daily routines can open up an exciting new world, and choosing independent living can be a powerful expression of self-care and prioritizing your personal needs in this stage of life. Get in touch with the team at Riverside Senior Life to learn more about making a choice that gives you the freedom to spend your time doing what you love.