This happy couple is enjoying their decision to remain in place and age where they are – there are enough challenges facing us in life without adding selecting another home to it
In business, many of us are familiar with the expression of “go-no-go” as it applies to deciding whether to approach or embrace a particular opportunity, pursue a specific client, align ourselves with a course of action or other business, and other directions that can affect the outcome and performance of our business.
We are faced with opportunities and decisions every day – multiple times in fact. Some are relatively minor, while others are more consequential. Which route to take to the office – the familiar one that can be driven without paying that much attention to what is going on around us, the scenic route that we take now and then, or a different route entirely that may take longer but give us something new to look at and experience? Go-no-go. Which to take? Which alternative or suggested route to follow on our GPS mapping program – the quickest, the most direct, or one we want to try because it is new? Go-no-go. Which to choose and which ones to ignore or discard – for now, or maybe forever.
Where to eat lunch or dinner – our favorite place or one of our go-to places or something new and different? Entertainment – the usual, familiar activities or something different and perhaps more challenging? Nothing controversial or life-changing, but they are decisions just the same.
Which book to purchase or read next, whether to skip breakfast and just grab a coffee, deciding to work through lunch, going to the gym on the way home, making time for the online webinar we signed up for or catch it on the replay, blowing off a not-that-important meeting to do something more fun with our family, or dozens of other choices we face are all go-no-go decisions that we make regularly.
Some of us take vacations and we have to decide whether to go on a trip or stay at home – a so-called “staycation.” Either way, there are additional decisions as to where to go on any particular day – or to stay where we are at that moment and enjoy it – a go-no-go as it applies to activities.
We might be familiar with the go-no-go concept or phrase as it applies to our space program. NASA reviews multiple factors and then decides whether a launch can occur as planned. Sometimes it needs to be adjusted or pushed back on that same day. Sometimes it is rescheduled. It is this ability to decide whether to move forward or to be more cautious or halt a proceeding that is at the heart of this go-no-go concept. Without the ability to reassess the process along the way, we find ourselves committed to something that could risk property, reputations, or lives.
And this brings us to aging in place and applying the go-no-go concept to our residences. In fact, the whole idea of aging in place is to remain in our chosen home and not move from it – a no-go decision. Many of us have the option of choosing to move, but is that practical? Leaving what we have involves making many decisions and takes its toll on us emotionally.
If we are committed to a no-go, it makes life so much easier – not that our homes are perfect necessarily but that we accept them as our permanent abode. We don’t have to look for, think about, go look at, or even discuss or consider alternate housing opportunities because we have decided that we are not moving.
There are so many things in life that require our attention – and new ones crop up all the time. There are repair and health concerns that we may not even know about or be aware of right now that could be a factor later in the day or in the next day or two. There are emergencies that can appear – involving us, our property, or families, or those we care about. It’s nice to know that we can focus on these other events when they happen and not have the additional consideration or distraction of trying to find another place to occupy. We are going to need all of our energies to handle these stressful situations that have come our way, and the fact that finding new housing is not one of them is beneficial.
Some people may choose to leave what they have and make a go decision. That’s up to them, but as aging in place specialists, we want to encourage people to remain where they are and to determine how their current home situation can continue to provide for them or how it can be modified to address their changing needs.
For aging in place concerns, we would like to see a go-no-no choice be decided in favor of the no-go. We want people to stay in their present homes, and we are committed to helping them do just that.