By Jean Gifford, R.N.

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How many times have you heard someone say, "For goodness sake, act you age"? We say it to our children when  they are acting in a babyish way and we say it to our elders if we think they are acting too young. My concern today is with the latter—and unless a person is making an utter fool of him- or herself, who are we to make a judgment regarding someone else’s behavior?

To quote a line from a recent publication, ". . . Your chronological age reflects the day you were born, but your physiologic and spiritual ages reflect the way you choose to live." That really spoke to me. I have been saying the same thing for years, but hadn’t heard it put quite so eloquently before. It is true that your attitude makes a world of difference. If a person reaches a particular milestone birthday and decides that the time has come to take to an easy chair and wait for the inevitable, he or she will stagnate and appear to age with much greater rapidity than the person who says, "Hey. . . consider the alternative and enjoy life as much as you can." I can guarantee that the second person will be active and more youthful looking for a much longer time.

How do we achieve the goal of remaining as young as possible? For starters, remain active---both physically and mentally. Work on physical fitness. Get into a program at a health center, a senior center or do it yourself with fitness tapes. Get out and walk. Walking is great for both physical fitness and for cardiovascular fitness. You’ll find that your endurance will increase over time. If you have a physical problem to begin with, get your doctor’s approval of the program before starting it.

Work on becoming physically strong. Muscular strength is important for balance and mobility. Become an "explorer." By that, I mean do some of the things you always wanted to do but didn’t have time in the past. Take music lessons, take up painting or crafts, travel, write that book you’ve been threatening to do for years. You get the point!

Be optimistic! Plan things to do in the future---don’t let anyone talk you out of it just because you’re "too old." Rubbish! You’re never too old---and you’ll never be any younger---so go for it! Adopt a good "maintenance program." Just as you follow a plan of maintenance for your car, do the same for yourself. Get regular checkups with the doctor, dentist, optometrist. Preventive maintenance will help you ace in on potential problems so you can do something about them early and prevent many major problems at a later date. And last of all, keep an active social life. Get out and meet new people as well as the old friends. Do volunteer work, join reading groups, etc. HAVE FUN!

To paraphrase an old saying, "If aging is inevitable, relax and enjoy it!"

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Jean Gifford, a cradle Episcopalian and member of St. Paul’s Church, Richmond, Indiana, is a retired health educator.