Unknown: not discovered, explored, identified, or ascertained. The unknown opens the door to fear. It can cause apprehension, anxiety, and the inability to move forward with anything. I've had numerous conversations with people about their thoughts related to death. Many have expressed fear towards death and when asked "why," the response is usually "fear of the unknown." However, the unknown is what life is all about. The way our lives will play out each day is unknown and w

"Mirror, Mirror on the wall..." I'm sure you can finish that sentence with ease, but if not, it ends with "who's the fairest one of all?" The only difference between our mirrors and the one in the movie Snow White is, there's no magic in them, just the reality our minds tell us that we see. So what does our reality tell us when we look in the mirror and how does it affect the love we have for ourselves as we continue aging? Love or the lack thereof is the starting point to ho

I recently purchased a piece of art that said "be kind to your mind." What I like about art is that there's no right or wrong way to interpret it. It's all based on the individual and how it makes he/she feel. At first glance, "be kind to your mind" made me think about the importance of positive words to self, or making healthier decisions. However, after I continued staring at it, I began to see the importance of viewing myself as stronger, better, and wiser than I really gi

Oftentimes when we think or hear about ageism, the focus is on the discrimination that older adults may experience, but how often do we look at it through the lens of younger generations? Ageism is not specific to one age group, but can have an impact on all ages ranging from 0-100+. Since the focus all month has been on millennial family caregivers and we are now at end of it, I thought it was important to touch on a challenge that many of them may face, ageism. Let's get to

I'm sure we've all had a moment, or two, or three+ where we say,"if I knew then, what I know now." It's what we say after we've told someone about our challenges in full detail, and how we now know there was an easier/better way to handle the situation. Knowing better is really the inspiration behind this post. Today, there are roughly ten million millennial caregivers and although some of them may have a handle on this role and know what resources are available, there are so

Doesn't it always seem like when we're in uncomfortable or challenging situations, that people say things like, “trust the process, or “you have to crawl before you walk?" In those moments, the reminders may be true, but they're most definitely not what we want to hear when we're met with obstacles. Why? Well, there's multiple reasons and it depends on the person, but I think it's generally related to the timeline we've created for when certain events should occur in our life

I'm sure when Destiny's Child came out with "Say My Name," they never meant for it to be used as an example such as this post, but here we are! We all have a name and I'm sure we'd prefer it to be used, over names that don't quite "suit" us. I'm also sure none of us want to be babied as we get older, or treated like a family pet. Yet, there's this urge for some people to refer to older adults as "sweetie," "honey" or "cutie pie." What is it about older adults that makes indiv

In the last several weeks, different terms have been used, suggestions have been made, and everyone has been in panic mode because of the

We all love a good episode of Saturday Night Live, right? I mean it knows just the right nerves to hit and still make you laugh at the same time. I remember watching an episode a while back and boy, oh boy did it touch on every existing stereotype as it relates to Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials. Stereotypes ranging from millennial views on healthcare, to the beliefs that Baby Boomers think they know it all. This episode gave the perfect example of how stereotypes takes

Health Aging Month is an observance of highlighting the positive things about aging.

Health Aging Month is an observance of highlighting the positive things about aging.

"Do you have an advance directive?" asked a woman sitting at a table in the cafeteria at Atrium Health Hospital. What's crazy is I had just

I don't know about you, but my parents used to give me warnings of what would happen if I didn't listen to what they said. Of course I would go against the grain and NOT listen, which would turn into a huge consequence. Before I would receive whatever the punishment was, my parents would say "I warned you!" How often do we take warnings seriously though? When we get a tornado or hurricane warning, do we immediately run for safety, or wait around to see what's really going to

I've been on some India Arie ish this week and I must say it's so soothing, considering the topic I'm about to touch on can bring about emotions and feelings that make some people uneasy. Don't worry, I'll keep this post short! There are a few things we're told we have no control over: 1. Who our birth parents are 2. Change 3. Death Notice how I put death at the end? It's the last part of the aging process; the final stage of life and many people dread seeing the end. For the

I'm sitting here preparing to guest lecture in the Psychology of Aging course at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) and listening to Aaliyah's version of "At Your Best (You Are Love)", which has been on repeat. This song is definitely a 90's music favorite of mine. *singing, "At your best, you are love." When I'm the healthiest, I am love. I am capable of loving and receiving love. The only thing is, how do I approach the stumbling block that come when I'm trying to give/r

"When I get to where I can't do for myself, y'all just put me in a nursing home," said my grandmother years ago. Today, she has gotten to where she can't do a whole lot for herself, but her instruction for moving her into a nursing home has gone in one ear and out of the other. I think I can speak for my family when I say, a nursing home is not a place where we want her to go. I'm not too fond of nursing homes. Why? Maybe it's because of the many horror stories I've heard and

*Health Insurance Literacy: (1) Find, (2) evaluate information, (3) select and (4) use* We've touched on quite a bit as it relates to Health Insurance Literacy and all we have left is to simply use the plan. For some, using a health insurance plan is rare and for others their plan is used on a consistent basis. One thing is for sure, there are services that both parties (those who use it and those who do not) can benefit from, IF their plans offer it. I'm sure we all like the

Some of you may be familiar with my Real Homies Wanna Know YouTube series, where I talk about general topics that people may be familiar/unfamiliar with. There's one topic that I'm sure real homies wanna know about and it relates to HMO's, PPO's, and POS'. What the heck do these abbreviations mean?! If you drew a blank, don't worry, we're all learning here and that's the purpose of this post. I've already shared in my last post my dislike for abbreviations. Nothing has change

"You mean I have money just sitting there that I can use? Soo, I didn't really have to use my own funds to pay for all of those chiropractor visits? What?!" I was 23 years old, had left a job for something better, and at the time, knew NOTHING about a Health Savings Account (HSA). The account with all of this money in there straight chilling. I only found out about it right when I finished my exit interview and the Human Resources representative told me about it. It felt unre

Growing up I never knew 'adulting' would be so difficult at times and that there's a crap load of things I needed to know if I wanted to be "successful" at it. What's Adulting, you ask? Well, the good ol' Urban Dictionary says it is "carrying out one or more duties/responsibilities as a fully developed individual (i.e. paying bills, lowering debts, purchasing insurance)." About a month or so ago I came across a perfect example of adulting on someone's facebook post (see below