1 . Cope With Loneliness or Depression

My grandmother, Margaret lived to be 104, spending the last 16 years of her life in a nursing home. Although ______ kept in a wheelchair from severe arthritis(关节炎), she was mentally sharp until her ______. In fact, she was one of the very few residents there who could still think clearly. ______ the passing years, friends and family members died. Yet, when I had the ______ to visit her, she never seemed to be despondent or ______ of being lonely. After my visits, I ______ left thinking “If I lived that long, would I have the same ______? Was there something special or different in the way she thought that prevented her from becoming ______ ?”

By our very nature, human beings are relational. As social beings, we need some sense of ______ to the world around us, whether it’s through people or the ______ world. In what appeared to be the very ______world of my grandmother, she had ______ close relationships with the nurses on her floor. I’ve ______ a lot on the example my grandmother provided during her ______ years. I’ve asked myself many questions about aging and how to ______ a sense of well-being as our world ______ to narrow from the death of family and friends or major health issues. Perhaps what I’ve ______ will help you, too.

Being alone. What does that ______ bring into your mind? The way we feel about being alone has something to do with the way we frame it. For example, you ______ be in a large group of people and still feel very lonely. Yet, some people seem to recharge and actually energize by taking the time to be alone. Once your thoughts and feelings change, it will be ______ for your behavior to change as well.