Aging it is one element in our diverse society that we have in common we all age. Many of us also have something else in common fear of what the aging process may bring into our lives. Will it bring disease, chronic conditions, and loss of independence?

No one can accurately predict the future, but we each can influence the future our own personal future because to a greater extent than we realize, our future is in our hands. The choices we make now, no matter how old we are forty, sixty, even eighty and older can still affect the quality and the length of our lives. It is never too early, and almost never too late. This point is made with great forcefulness in a new book, Successful Aging, (Pantheon Books, Random House 1998) by John W. Rowe, M.D., and Robert L. Kahn, Ph.D., reporting on conclusions from a study of aging funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

Rowe and Kahn discuss strategies for avoiding disease and disability, for maintaining mental and physical function, and for continuing our active involvement in life. The findings of the study are all interesting, and carry implications for how we view the aging process. To get the full impact and details of their conclusions, the book should be read in its entirety. However, there is one conclusion that stands out in importance, and in its startling simplicity: exercise can be the biggest single factor in avoiding disability, and maintaining our health and functioning.

According to Rowe and Kahn, Physical activity is at the crux of successful aging, regardless of other factors. They also say: There is a simple basic fact about exercise and your health: fitness cuts your risk of dying. In other words, exercise may not be the magic bullet that solves all our problems and worries about the effects of aging, but its close!

The beneficial aspects of exercise extend even to older, more frail individuals. One of the more interesting studies mentioned by Rowe and Kahn was conducted in a nursing home, where some residents were given an opportunity to take weight training. The results: residents became stronger, more fit, and more able to perform everyday tasks.

Do we all have to pump iron? Studies do show that weight training can be quite beneficial, but fitness can be achieved even without special equipment. Even moderate exercise, such as walking or gardening, can be extremely beneficial if pursued regularly. With that in mind, how many are actually exercising? Not nearly enough. Depending on the age grouping, one quarter to one half of older people report having no regular exercise at all.

This is where our personal choices our ability to actually affect our own future enters into the equation. Advances in medicine have given us the opportunity to live longer. We can monitor our health, and take effective action to ward off certain medical problems. We are not prisoners of our genes, although they may give us some tendency toward certain health conditions. We may be, however, prisoners of our own conceptions about aging. We may still believe that our older years either should be, or must be, inactive. This study says quite the opposite. If our physical, mental, and social activities remain strong, we are more likely to have successful aging.

The implications of the information provided by Rowe and Kahn in Successful Aging are tremendous. We can not only live longer, we can live better in more comfort, with less dependence on others both getting more out of life, and contributing more to it.

Seek your doctors advice before beginning an exercise program. There may be some for whom exercise is truly not advisable. For the rest of us who can benefit: plan, use proper precautions to fit existing health conditions and current state of physical fitness, and begin slowly, but begin.

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By A. Nobbe.

You may have reached 60 years of age, or 65, or 70, and things are going well for you. Congratulations. Obviously you are doing something right.

But do I catch a fragile look in the eyes of some of you? Perhaps things have not gone exactly right. Or do you wonder if this is all there is one day after another till the end? If so, then I will say to you, open up! You may not have any idea of what could be in store for you.

As older people we may have done a certain thing for years to make a living, and we do not know what else we can do. Or perhaps we have always dreamed of doing something else but were afraid to launch out. Now that were retired we can open up and let Higher Powers show us what else we can do.

First off, take time to do some reading to keep up with current events. Then try meditating and spending some quiet time trying to learn why you are here and where you may be going.

Take me for example. I thought Id get to write or paint or do some of the things Id tabled for over forty years. I did some of those things, but not as much as I thought I would. However, in 1986 I got into Senior Olympics and started a fitness program at the Mt. Vernon Health and Fitness Center.

In 1992 I fell at home and injured a shoulder. After surgery and several months of physical therapy I went back to the fitness center, but things did not go well. My momentum was gone.

My coach, however, saw things differently. Since I have strong legs he suggested I try doing dead lifts. He also suggested some light bench-presses to strengthen the repaired shoulder. Eventually, I began doing squats and soon entered a full power lifting meet.

In 1996, I went coast-to-coast appearing on TV shows and I've also been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers. This has been in connection with my power lifting, and if it ends right now I'm sure there would be something else waiting for me. I'm open to the future.

Let us all set our standards high. Every day we can devote a few minutes to reading something inspirational, walk for thirty minutes, go to a fitness center, or check out the days news by radio, TV, or newspaper. If we are constricted in any of these procedures, then we can modify them. The important thing is just to put forth the effort and it will pay us back in some measure.

Nothing can happen in our lives that God does not help us to get through. My faith grew even stronger during my down times. So can yours. Make every effort to stay happy and enrich the lives of other people. God bless you.

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Note: A. Nobbe is a senior adult living in Southern Illinois who took up an entirely new avocation in her retirement years at age 70 power lifting. She has been a record setter in her age group in the Senior Olympics and the Natural Athlete Strength Association (NASA), and won the NASA Outstanding Lifter award in 1995. Although Nobbe no longer lifts weights competitively, she continues lifting weights on her own at age 79 (in 2003). She says it makes her healthier in every way. In 2002 she competed in twelve events in the Senior Olympics.

Even if weight lifting isn't for you you can walk, attend aerobic classes, or work in your garden to meet your health needs. Not only is exercise important, but so is eating right and socializing with family and friends. Maintaining good heath, diet, exercise, and an active social life are the keys to successful aging.

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