#297: Rest in Peace

How are you sleeping lately?  Are you getting 7 or 8 hours of shut-eye? 

 If so, you on your way to a healthy old age.  This is one of the implications in a recent American survey of 100 healthy 100 year olds and a comparison group of boomers. 

Investigators found that in many respects, healthy boomers and centenarians share some of the same good habits-- exercising regularly and keeping socially active. But the younger participants were not sleeping as well.  Only 38 percent managed eight or more hours or more of sleep per night compared to 71 percent of the elderly. 

I assume that the boomers surveyed are probably working – getting up early and going to bed late so that they can fit in all that socializing and exercise.  No wonder they are falling short in the sleep department.

I remember those days.  While working, I was often sleep deprived.  But contemplating these statistics about healthy aging, I realize that retirement has been very good for my sleep habits. I am still a bit of a night owl (I am often a midnight blogger), but I now fall asleep without anxiously reviewing the next days’ tasks, I often sleep through the night, and if I do wake at 4:30 I don’t toss and turn until morning.

And if perchance I don’t sleep well, everyone knows that one of the perks of retirement is permission to nap.  I have yet to exercise this option, but I sleep easier knowing that it is there.