In This Issue

Looking Forward...

Old Age: Simulation vs. Reality

What if you and I "were given glasses with lenses smeared in Vaseline, cotton balls to stuff in our ears, weights to tie on our ankles?"

Then, "we were led through activities such as brushing our teeth, making beds, washing dishes and dusting the furniture."

Then, "we were told, this is what it feels like to be old."

Ann Burack-Weiss, the author of "The Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life, tells us she could not disagree more. "It is rare that an old person will have every disability or that those she does have will be of equal intensity. There is an ebb and fkow to physical functioning in late life just as there is in earlier years."

"And we are more than the sum of our bodily woes; we are individuals who meet the challenges of old age in individual ways," she asserts.

"We do not live to take care of ourselves and our habitats; we do these things in order to do other things that give our lives meaning."

Is it news that people who are aged sixty and seventy are finding careers in politics?
Four of the 2016 candidates for President are in at 6's and 7's.
Steven Ponto, Mayor of Brookfield, Wisconsin, 68, had a career as a lawyer before he was elected.
Jennifer Lawless, professor of government at American University in Washington, DC , says that "the number of political positions is sizable; older people are filling an increasing number of them."

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April 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

"Most older people are healthy and independent, but this reality often is 'under appreciated and unrecognized by the vast majority of the public," said James Appleby, executive director and chief executive officer of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

In a recent news report by Bob Rosenblatt from PBS Next Avenue/New America Media, he noted that "aging is understood as an inherently negative process about which little can be done. The sense of an ideal that will never be achieved serves only to further cement the already deep sense of fatalism that characterizes public thinking on aging."

At Sixes and Sevens Multimedia we hold an opposite view. Indeed, we proclaim a positive image of aging as not only a healthy and happy stage of life but an interesting, stimulating, and inspirational period of growth. As people age new opportunities and viable alternatives open to them in work, social life, and especially in communities.

During the years sixty to eighty and beyond aging is not the only event to occur. Rather it is and can be for everyone a time of fresh perspectives and powerful new successes. Interpersonal focus can shift to innovative activities and community contributions. As Robert H. Schuller suggests, "Anybody who succeeds (at aging) is helping people. The secret to success is to find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it; find a problem and solve it."

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Dr. Margaret M. Rappaport's book is published by At Sixes and Sevens, Inc.

Body Prayer is intended to be a guide to habits, behaviors, and traditions that support health. It encourages people to pay attention to goals for health and happiness as they age. It is educational, not diagnostic. It is meant as a motivational tool to expand perception and self-knowledge of the interconnections and unity of mind, body, and spirit.

Featuring detailed pictures that illustrate the concepts laid out by Dr. Rappaport, Body Prayer demonstrates the inexorable link between all facets of the human body and experience - and how cultivating mindfulness through prayer or meditation can improve physical well-being and spiritual enlightenment.

Throughout her forty-year career in health care, Dr. Rappaport has experienced the paradigm shift in medicine toward an enhanced awareness of the whole person over a strictly biomedical model. Dr. Rappaport believes that it's important to factor the physical, mental, and mystical aspects of the self into a better understanding of health, illness, and healing.

At Sixes and Sevens, Inc.

Our Mission and Mandate

Fund raising is essential in helping us to celebrate our initiatives and support our efforts to engage the community that we seek to coalesce and inspire. With the talent of an outstanding grant writer, we are approaching public foundations to underwrite our programs.

Individuals can provide incentives by becoming members of At Sixes and Sevens, Inc. For a $10.00 monthly contribution or an annual $120.00 payment through PayPal, people may take a tax-deduction that gives us the financial capital we need to thrive and grow our mission.

In the latest United States Census (2010) more people were sixty years old and over than in any previous census. From the first census in 1790 until today there was little attention given to this age group. Over the years there have been assumptions made as to their interests and their health and their future. Today, because this age group makes up nearly 20% of the population it has become increasingly important to understand these men and women. Just for illustration, consider that in 1900 there were about 4 million people aged 60 and over. Now they number approximately 43 million people. Also think about the fact that the population of the United States is growing at 9.7% while the number of people between the ages of sixty and eighty is increasing at the rate of 18% per year.

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Sincerely,

Dr. Margaret Rappaport

Founding Executive Director
At Sixes and Sevens Multimedia, Inc.