Making New Friends Often Helps Aging Seniors Get a New Lease on Life
When a young child moves to a new town, a new school, making that adjustment can be extremely stressful. They walk into a classroom, not knowing anyone, and feel all eyes on them. The shyer a person is, the more difficult it might be to make friends, but once they do, comfort follows. The same can be said for a senior who suddenly finds himself or herself in a new environment, such as assisted living.
Assisted living can certainly be a new lease on life.
It might not feel like it at first, especially for an aging senior who is a bit reluctant to even consider this living option in the first place. What many people fail to understand and realize about assisted living is that it offers independence, autonomy, and support.
It also provides some elderly men and women the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and experience new things they never thought were possible.
How can making new friends change everything?
Just as a child who is in a new environment, a new school, making new friends feels fresh, like starting over. A person who is struggling to maintain daily life, is overwhelmed with cleaning, preparing meals, and simply doesn’t have the strength to continue on this way at their age, might certainly feel this is a loss of independence.
Then, the initial suggestion they look into assisted living could feel like the proverbial slap in the face, the last straw, as it were. However, these seniors often don’t fully understand and appreciate just what assisted living is.
They commonly misconstrue it with other kinds of facility type of care. Yet, when those seem seniors ultimately move in, begin exploring, and meeting new people, they realize they are not alone.
There is an inherent fear among many people of being alone, especially at the end of their lives. When an aging senior has witnessed friends, family, and even a spouse pass away, it leaves a hole in their life that’s difficult to fill.
Getting the opportunity to connect with new people, fresh faces, and explore activities like arts and crafts and other adventures can create a new lease on life in many respects.
Not all seniors are going to be comfortable meeting new people, but for those who are encouraged, who still feel valuable in this life, it can be an absolutely wonderful experience that opens up a world of possibility they may have never thought could exist again.
For more information about senior housing in Hill Country Village, TX, contact Pipestone Place Assisted Living or to take a tour, call today (210) 718-0211.
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