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Prime Times Weekly publication of the Mail Tribune , Medford, Oregon Photo by Bob Pennell Ouida and Larry Bradford take a brisk March walk in the Mountain Meadows area of Ashland. Are you growing old with amazing grace? Seniors: Positive attitude is the secret to successful aging By STAN HINDEN For more information National Institute on Aging, 800-222-2225. NIA has a variety of free publications on health and related topics. American Association of Retired Persons, 800-424-3410. AARP Has several free pamphlets on issues relating to age and health. National Council on the Aging, 202-479-1200. The NCOA has information available on senior health issues and lifestyles. special to The Washington Post How can you tell if you're aging successfully? That's a tough question. In almost every other area of life, it's easy to measure success. In school, report cards tell us how we're doing. In sports, we count touchdowns and home runs. In business, our yardsticks are raises and promotions. In retirement, we gauge success by the size of our investment portfolios. But when we get into our seventies, eighties and even nineties, it's much harder to define and measure success. The complexities of aging make it difficult to always figure out why one 80-year-old is able to ride a bike five miles a day while another 80-year-old is confined to a wheelchair. I've been thinking about my own prospects for growing older because I celebrated my 72nd birthday recently. My wife, Sara, will soon be 70. Now that we're into our seventies, we're trying to do everything we can to extend our active years and make them as satisfying as possible. Our desire is shared, I am sure, by the 35 million other Americans who are now over 65 -- and by the 5,000 people who turn 65 each day. That means that all of us will be perfect targets for an endless stream of pitches for products and services dealing with health, physical fitness, investments, senior housing, travel and more. As such, we may represent one of the greatest marketing opportunities in the history of American business. But that's fine. I will welcome advice on aging that tells me not only how to live longer but also how to do so more productively. Many of my peers feel the same way. We're aware that we live in a privileged time. Thanks to modern medicine and rising living standards, increases in life expectancy have been dramatic. Today, at 65, women can expect to live to 84. At 65, men can look forward to living until almost 81. One useful book about growing older is "Successful Aging" by John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn. It is based on the MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America, which took 10 years and cost $15 million. Among other things, the study looked closely at the history and habits of people who were aging well. For more info Here are a few sources of information about growing old successfully. Remember that Web sites often contain links to other sites offering information on similar subjects. BOOKS "Successful Aging" by John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn. Pantheon Books, 1998. "How and Why We Age" by Leonard Hayflick. Ballantine Books, 1994. "Nine Myths of Aging: Maximizing the Quality of Later Life" by Douglas H. Powell, 1998. W.H. Freeman. WEB SITES National Institute on Aging: www.nih.gov/nia/ Administration on Aging: www.aoa.gov American Association of Retired Persons (AARP): www.AARP.org National Council on the Aging: www.ncoa.org American Society on Aging: www.ASAGING.org The book contains lots of good news for people my age. The MacArthur study explodes many of the myths about aging and proves that, with proper diet, exercise and medical care, elderly people can remain physically active and mentally alert for many years. Successful aging, the authors say, is based on three characteristics: a low risk of disease and disease-related disability; high mental and physical abilities; and the desire to remain actively engaged with people. While heredity plays a role in longevity, the authors say, they believe that individual lifestyle choices and behavior over many years have the most influence on whether one ages successfully. Better yet, the authors write, it is never too late to change one's lifestyle for the better. I climbed on the diet/exercise/stay-busy bandwagon shortly after I retired from The Washington Post two years ago. So have many of the people I know in my retirement community. Time and again, when I ask them how they're coping with advancing age, they tell me, "You've got to have a positive attitude." To stay positive, I spend time exercising, working on my columns, making speeches and taking care of family matters. My schedule makes me one of millions of Americans who essentially are defying old age, said Robert N. Butler, director of the International Longevity Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Butler told me he's observed that many older people are busy working either for pay or as volunteers, caring for grandchildren, taking part in physical-fitness programs and traveling. This national surge of activity, Butler said, is part of "a redefinition of what later life is all about." Perhaps we could all take a lesson from composer and pianist Eubie Blake, who lived to be 100 years old. "If I'd known I was gonna live this long," Blake said, "I'd have taken better care of myself." Prime Times front page Mail Tribune front page Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA