Stay Flexible in 2026
The older I get — and I’m already pretty old — the more I think about transitions. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and don’t feel bad if you’re thinking about it, too.
At our age, it’s important to understand that a transition is a word, phrase, sentence or group of sentences that relate a preceding topic to a succeeding one or that smoothly connect parts of a speech or a piece of writing. Our brains are just wired that way as we age.
No? What were you thinking about? It’s a scientific fact that the older we get, the more we begin to think about a passage that links two sections of a piece of music together: also known as a bridge. That’s a transition, too. But I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.
See what I did there? That was a transition; a passage of discourse in which a shift of subject is made. I was talking about music, and then suddenly I wasn’t, but I so cleverly shifted from one subject to the other that you hardly noticed. I didn’t even notice until my wife pointed it out to me.
Still not what you were thinking? Interesting.
The only other thing I can think of is a movement from one musical key to another; otherwise known as modulation. But that doesn’t have anything to do with being old … except that I often modulate my car keys and then have a great deal of difficulty finding them again.
Transitions are hard for many people. Ways to cope with them include:
Stay flexible. Because nothing says “I’m ready for change” like trying yoga and realizing your only flexible part is your schedule.
Acknowledge your feelings. Bottling them up is only good if you’re making homemade root beer, not handling life’s plot twists.
Journaling. Writing it down is how you get published in Senior News, or at least how you discover your handwriting is now a secret code that even you can’t decipher.
Remember, when life hands you a pickle, don’t just make a sour face. Slice it up, put it on a sandwich, and call it a gourmet transition. Mustard optional.
Follow me for more tips. You’ll need to stay flexible.
John Meyers, 76, is generally reluctant to follow his own advice.
He’s not sure why.
