PATTAYA, Thailand – At the Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) meeting on Wednesday, May 20, Ron Cartey, international Training Specialist, challenged older adults to rethink everyday habits, take responsibility for their health and find confidence in growing older. Ron delivered a presentation centered on aging, self-awareness and the need to break destructive routines before they harden into addiction. His message was direct but ultimately hopeful: growing older should not be feared or resented but recognized as a privilege and an opportunity to live more intentionally.
Throughout the talk, Ron drew a distinction between habits and addictions, describing habits as behaviors people can generally control and addictions as patterns marked by dependence, harm and loss of control. He urged listeners to examine their own routines honestly, warning that seemingly ordinary behaviors can quietly undermine health, relationships and quality of life over time.
Among the examples he highlighted were alcohol, overeating, smoking, excessive phone use, medication dependence, gambling, shopping and the search for validation. Ron said many of these behaviors begin as comforts or coping mechanisms, then gradually become dependencies that shape a person’s daily life. He encouraged the audience to ask simple but revealing questions: Can I stop? Is this harming me? Do I need it to feel normal?
A recurring theme in his talk was that time cannot be reversed, but direction can be changed. Ron told the audience that many people waste later life complaining about age instead of using it as a chance to improve their health, relationships and outlook. Not everyone gets the chance to grow old, he said, and that reality should make people more determined to protect the years they still have.
Rather than calling for dramatic reinvention, Ron focused on small, practical changes. He recommended being more mindful about eating and drinking habits, reducing dependence on phones, noticing common forms of denial and seeking professional support when necessary. The aim, he said, is not perfection but steady improvement through healthier routines and better choices.
By the end of the presentation, Ron’s conclusion was clear: the deeper struggle is often not addiction itself, but discomfort with one’s own life and identity. Once people become more comfortable with themselves, he suggested, many destructive behaviors lose their hold. His final call was for honesty, responsibility and the willingness to replace bad habits with better ones before those habits define the future.
After the presentation, MC Ren Lexander brought everyone up to date on upcoming Club events. This was followed by the Open Forum where questions are asked and comments made about Expat living in Thailand. To learn more about the PCEC, visit their website at https:/pcec.club. To view the video of the presentation, visit the PCEC’s youtube Channel at
Https://www.youtube.com/@pcecclub6255/videos.
