We can never see the outcome of things before they happen. A blessing or a curse?
I guess the best things in life always put us in a predicament.

Give Americans a land to love and allow your surplus on food and knowledge to be what causes lost blood.
Give them your hand and 95% of the time they will take your whole arm.

Our race almost always predicts that their future will hold a more negative outcome than it actually will. Pessimism or projection?

The Model A. Selective Optimization with Compensation Model done by the Baltes Couple in the 1980’s further explains how true age-related deficits place limits on cognitive and behavioral resources. They explain that the way in which we must maintain a thorough performance is to

Select
Optimize
Compensate

Now what does this mean to you?

Motivation. Find what makes your hungry!!!

How do you get things done without motivation?

Money.
*And trust me that is not satisfying lifestyle

Select certain domains to focus your energy on.
Optimize what strategies are successful for you and what activities you want to be putting increasing effort into.
-the more practice the better
– you cannot find yourself without cultivating yourself
Compensate for whatever it is you had trouble sleeping over for a certain period of time.
*soon to come
-age related declines
-behavior
-memory
-cognitive declines
-physical demands
…. it’s never too late, believe me.

In one of my earlier blogs I discussed the beauty of art, and not like your standard murals or sculptures, but a true art; the mastering of a skill.
Give this generation a race and their focus will be the outcome rather than the preparation. Ironic how it should be based on endurance rather than finishing.
The truth always catches up, even the the rabbit knows that from the turtle.

Now what is it to age “successfully?”
I know we may all have different definitions to the meaning of “success” but when it comes to life or death, I’m sure the majority of us are sticking with the life part over death. So here are some starters:

a) avoidance of disease/disease related disability
b) maintenance of high physical and cognitive functioning
c) sustained active engagement in social and productive activities

Yes this is broad, but there is ALWAYS a place to start.
So definitely a focus on an active, rather than passive lifestyle to help reap physical and psychological benefits, cognitive engagement, a good diet, scheduled exercise, and healthy social relations.

Now, please notice I didn’t use any of the words “diet,” “train,” “learn,” ect. because these are suppose to be life long habits, not impulsive ones.

When I use to watch movies as a young girl I use to always hate the scene where there would be a funeral with only 1 person standing in between shuffled, empty chairs. (Maybe two people including the priest, but even he stands at a pedestal)

You can either be the one in the grave or the guy who shows up.
You may choose the life you live, but you also get to choose what you leave behind. Be the artist.