Life is about movement. The more that we move the better we feel. The longer that we sit with our ills and aches and pains of age…the more we want to continue to sit. We tell ourselves that we are much too old for this activity or that pleasure…and soon our prophecy is self-fulfilling.

Some of the most inspirational folks that I have cruised with were on our first Holland America Cruise. In those days they seemed so old…now they seem like contemporaries. Some couples were pushing their husband or wife in a wheelchair. Others walked very slowly to the Dinning Hall and held on to the rails for steadiness.

I reminisce about the elderly that were around our flat in Paris and in the Park. Walking with canes and often with a little dog…they were out and about to see what the world had to offer.

Activity is transformative for all of us. Nothing battles the blues better than a brisk walk. Things can look a bit bleak until we put on our walking shoes and dive into the ocean of life and enjoy the immersion.

Hope is generated when the neurons in our brain our firing and our synapsis are connecting. Activity causes thought and thought solves problems. Love emanates from bright eyes.

The light must rage against the darkness! I have witnessed many cases of those of us in the Golden Years giving over to what society and our peer group suggested was best for us. Berl loved to fish and could be found at a certain lake almost every day in nice weather…for hours on end. Upon attaining a certain birthday he decided that he was too old to continue to enjoy his favorite warm-weather pastime. Berl also enjoyed planting a huge garden. His vegetables were Blue Ribbon quality. However, he had determined that he was now too old to engage in either activity and thus stopped them cold turkey.

When you are dead…you are done…this is a natural fact that can not be denied. Why give in to fears and fantasies that may diminish the quality of your life and perhaps shorten it as well?