Aging & Attitude

I was told aging can be  an attitude thing. People with a positive attitude are not likely to age as fast. When I was in my pre-teen years I thought 50 was old. When I was in my teens  60 was old. In my 20's 70 was old.

I thought my grandfather on my dad's side was old when he died. My grandfather was 76. My father is 76. Now I no longer consider 70 to be "old".

The average American today lives to age 78. This age thing is in the eyes of the beholder.
Last week I was leaving the house and my wife got my attention. I was trying to get into a different vehicle (the vehicle was a Ford  and I own a Chevy). A few months ago I drove  to the bank. Later that day when I wanted to go home my vehicle was no place in sight. I panicked for a second and then realized I had walked back to the office from the bank. I was talking to someone outside the bank, and without a second thought, walked back to the office.

Are these signs of aging? I put this question to a local family physician. His response was "No, not at all".  This was memory loss in a different context.

We have all been somewhere, say a large mall, come out and not remembered exactly where we parked. That's why they color code and alphabetize large parking lots. Memory loss hits us all at one time or another. It's not necessarily tied in with aging-at least from my sources anyway.

I believe in the saying "You're as young as you feel". The only problem with me is there are times my mind says "Go" and my body says "No".

The other day I saw a gentleman in the World Senior Games set a record in the 100 meter dash. He was the only one running in his age group. He was 95!  Imagine trying to stay positive about aging if  outrun by a 95 year old guy!