How to Age Well: Tips for Successful Aging

January 27, 2026

New Year, New Positive Aging Opportunities

This “Aging with Grace” article was written by Jennifer Sanders and published in the Catholic Advance, The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Wichita.

Happy New Year! By this time in the new year, so many of us are likely already feeling a little defeated because the resolutions we made at midnight are maybe not going as well as we had anticipated in the excitement of making these plans.

Well fear not, because there are still over 300 days left in 2026, that’s 300 opportunities to start again and make progress towards our goals. The goal of healthy aging is much like the other goals we set at the beginning of a new year. It’s easy to become discouraged and give up when we get off course. Imagine if a football team simply quit playing because they lost a game, what if they hung up their cleats, and decided it wasn’t worth suiting up for the next game because they’d been defeated the last time? We’d be aghast at their lack of dedication, and yet that’s often how we approach our own challenges and setbacks.

I read something a few days ago that really made me stop and think: it said that if you read 20 pages a day for a year, you will have read approximately 30 books in a year. And if you walk 10,000 steps in a day, you will finish 70 marathons in a year. Most of us can’t fathom finishing ONE marathon, much less 70, but that’s the beauty of it; when we take it a day at a time, it feels manageable.

Healthy Aging is a Slow, Steady Process

Healthy aging is the same way, while certainly it can sometimes take more time, energy, or effort, than other times; in general, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Each day we have the opportunity to positively impact our own aging journey and the journey of those we are supporting in their own journey. It’s really simple. What is one thing you can do? Is it eat that apple instead of the leftover Christmas cookie? Maybe park a little farther out and get a few more steps walking into the grocery store? Start small and manageable. It can be as simple as sitting outside and getting some fresh air on a nice day instead of being inside glued to our TVs or phones.

There is a principle in the study of aging called “live long, die short.” This principle is coined by Dr. Roger Landry, and what it means is that we all strive to live at a high level of functioning, and the decline that often comes toward the end of life can be a relatively short period of time. A lot of that starts with our mindset.

Do we wake up each day thinking we have been granted one more great day of living, or that we are one more day closer to dying? How you assess that situation likely impacts all of your decisions for the rest of the day.

I’ve met people who were 98 years old and were as careful about what they ate and staying physically active as a person in their early 30s who was just realizing that their teenage metabolism might have finally abandoned them. That doesn’t mean that they weren’t enjoying life. It means that rather than saying “it doesn’t matter what I eat or how much exercise I get because my life is nearing the end of its earthly journey.” They are choosing to successfully age and actively making positive decisions for their own journey. If someone at 98 can be proactive and positive in their journey, surely the rest of us can get back on track or start a wellness journey in mid-January and not call the rest of the year a wash because the first few weeks weren’t going as well as we hoped.

Tips for Successful Aging

I’ll leave you with a few suggestions, and remember each journey is unique, and we are ALL aging. If you are breathing, you are aging. So these ideas are for everyone:

Learn a new hobby: seems simple, but stimulating the brain is a great way to engage in healthy aging
- Bonus points if the hobby engages your brain and body at the same time!
Commit to more regular social engagements: there is a strong link between being socially active and healthy aging. We’re all in this together!
Get moving: this needs no real explanation, exercise is the magic dust for our health.
Enjoy a well-balanced diet: Strive for lots of colors, textures, and variety! Deprivation is not the goal, and not sustainable. But balance is important!
Be of service to others: Kind of in the same vein as the social engagement, but spending time helping others is a great way to stay active, and there are significant emotional benefits.
Enjoy the silence: take time to be quiet, maybe it’s in times of prayer, outside on a walk, or inside with your morning coffee. There is a lot of “noise” around us all the time, and we need the silence to recharge

These are just a few ideas to get started with. There are so many more! The most important takeaway: don’t give up; take it one day or even one hour at a time.

Here’s to a wonderful 2026, and at least 300 more opportunities to make a positive difference in our aging journeys!

Catholic Care Center offers trusted independent living, memory care, short-term skilled nursing, long-term senior care, and assisted living in Wichita, KS. We’re happy to help any questions you have. Please call us at (316) 744-2020 or contact us online for answers.