Don't worry about avoiding temptation . as you grow older, it will avoid you.
-- Winston Churchill

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty ... but  everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or  spread out.
-- Phyllis Diller

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step,  he's too old to go anywhere.

These quotations were sent to me by a friend  (Thanks, Tom) and I liked them enough to use them for a blog subject.  There's a lot of pessimism mixed in with that humor, some of it justified, but don't we all know people who age with grace and beauty?  And don't we all aspire to be that person?   I look at Jack Lalanne, who is still incredibly strong and buff.  His secret apparently was to never "lose it" and therefore never have to gain it back.  Most of us weren't that smart.  If only, right?  If only I'd continued leaping about after my cheerleading days were over,  maybe I'd still have the body of a 16 year old.  hahaha  Well, probably not, but it's fun to dream.

There are many quizzes to ascertain how long we are likely to live, the best probably being the "Real Age" one.  I think they have a site, but I'm in here now and not inclined to go look it up.  Sorry.  But a quick Google search should do it.  Most quizzes indicate around age 100 for me.  I hope that is true IF I can keep my health, physical, mental, spiritual.  I do believe we are a package deal and if one area suffers, so do the other two. 

I'm so tired of the medical/nutrition people who seem to change their minds every ten minutes about what we should or shouldn't do/eat, etc.   Remember when butter was poison and we all switched to margarine?  And then they told us it was the margarine that was clogging our arteries?  In yesterday's newspaper I read that the much-heralded soy products don't make our bones stronger, our arteries less clogged, or anything else they were purported to do.  All together now, SIGH.

Many of us decided eons ago to just use common sense.  My own plan, if you can call it that, is to eat as close to nature as possible.  Fresh produce eaten raw or lightly cooked, etc.  I also think we should eat what grows in our own area since we live, breathe, etc in that same area.  There's some synchronicity to that which is appealing.

The cardiologist's diet:  If it tastes good, spit it out.  Another quote here, and too close to the truth for comfort.  Ignore it!   So far that works for me.  (Keeping my fingers crossed.)

Can you stand one more?   Well, here it is anyway:  We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
-- Will Rogers

I've just returned from the ordeal known as "the annual physical."  It's not exactly that I don't like doctors, I just don't like them near ME.  So of course my blood pressure soars when I'm there, alarming everyone.  Sigh.  I've developed the habit of keeping a blood pressure log and bringing it with me, so the doctor can see what normal looks like for me.  He likes that, fortunately, and we are able to review it and put aside the worry.  I am on blood pressure meds, however, and probably will be for the rest of my life.  Actually, that is the only reason I go in for my annual exam---it's the only way I can get a refill.  But the cardio-vascular stuff is my family's disease of choice, so I'm not fooling around with this. 

A friend from church was still gardening at age 95, although she complained that summer that she had slowed down some.  When I asked her how she managed to have such a wonderful life at her age, she replied, "I stay away from the doctors."   I have adopted her motto as my own.  Sure hope it works as well for me as it did for her.  She is now deceased--after a week-long final illness.   What a great way to go.  None of these surgeries and lingering diseases our friends and family are suffering through.  Forget the pain, forget the fear--Minna, you are the perfect role model.  You stayed in your own house and maintained your garden, your friendships, your family relationships right until the very last minute of your life.  Me too, I say!  Wasn't it Ghandi who said, "What you believe, you become"?  I believe!