How can we stop becoming 'old' as we age?

Crimson xxx!

number; well those that meet you don't find you boring..and those that 'meet' you in internet land find you funny and clever and well read and totally lovable. Just like you probably were when you were 16. Except you wouldn't have read quite so many books by then .

The reason, Bags, that I said that inside I`m still a shy 16 year old, is that at 16 I was painfully shy, and still am, have never been confident meeting new people, consequently most people I meet probably find me very boring. But I don`t think I`ll ever be able to change how I am, because, quite simply, I don`t have it in me.

soop I think you've summed it up pretty well

jane...I like your god-mother's spirit. The inner spirit, or essence of the person, no matter how old, is perhaps the key to whether or not that person remains youthful.

I thought it was PMA but either way, it's attitude that counts!

Now I understand it RMA is and always has been the answer - to just about everything.

When we 'retired' to the country it was suggested that we buy a bungalow 'at our age' so we bought a house which is 2 story's at the front and 3 at the back (we live on a hill). It is quite a bit bigger than our SE house and the garden is more demanding but we love it and have room for the whole family to come and stay.

When I asked if a particular clothes shop was nice I was told they sold clothes for 'our age' so now go to Cheltenham or Birmingham to buy clothes and, given the opportunity, still wear my killer heals because I love them! I am transforming my good friend out of her beige and brown and she seems to be enjoying my efforts to make her have fun.

At the moment I have a horrible cough and have sone something to my back but am determined it will all be better soon.

I like RMA and with a bit of luck don't need anything else.

Later on, I am going to post something , which may or may not be of interest .

Cannot do it at the moment as my niece has just arrived with the baby .

Toodle pip .

I've just opened a load of Christmas cards that the PO has been 'keeping safe' for me while we've been away.
One from my 90-year old god-mother.
Note inside, 'Horribly old, but otherwise ok!'
Perhaps GSOH is the answer

Right Mental Attitude , so there , ! laugh

Let pose a question , why don"t you , {as some people seem to think I am incorrect} ask either your family or maybe friends , what their take on it is ??

Lots of New year smiles to you all.

Well after the last few comments about music, suddenly feel older than I did two minutes ago.
I still bop to buddy holly and that ilk.

However, I feel that I want to fight the physical age thing as long as possible and not just take preventative pills and be told by the GP that its an age related problem every time I go.
My mum was fighting fit til she was 84 then they told her she had very high cholesterol and should go on a diet of chicken and veg. It frightened the life out of her almost literally and she was never the same again. Suddenly on 5 pills a day for various things, told her readings were still high, scared her more, went on more restricted diet and stopped enjoying anything. Long story but when someone believes that doctors are the oracle it can have a devastating effect. Now 89 and still got high cholesterol and the doc is still harping on about it!
Glad I went down the alternative route many years ago and intend to continue, as it has only been good for me so far.

Have you listened to Alt J; I played them non stop after they won the Mercury Music Awards. A bit marmite but strangely addictive .

Ah yes, Crimson! Steve Lamacq has interviewed the lead singer of my favourite band before, I seem to remember. I was going to listen but was too lazy to try to tune in my radio . That's a lot of the problem with me: laziness or technophobia - or both!

I wondered where all the good music had gone to until I discovered Radio6. Steve Lamacq, Tom Ravenscroft [John Peels lad] et al have all moved there. I listen to it on the telly or the computer but can't get it in the car.

Oh dear! Deedaa. How depressing ! Then again, that's probably the problem exactly .

I don't think I'm deliberately trying to stay young - more just ignoring age altogether. I know there are things I can't do, short skirts look obscene with my legs, killer heels give me cramp and heavy make up sits in my wrinkles and quadruples them. But generally I still do things I've always done. I do colour my hair because when I look in the mirror I know that ME doesn't have gray hair

I do have the awful example of my MiL in front of me. After a hysterectomy in her 40's she was delighted not to have to bother about all the sex stuff any more (not sure what FiL thought) and embraced semi invalidity with relish. By the time she was 60 she was assuring me that she was far too old to bother about clothes, while she wore the same crimplene dress day after day, usually with one of her "lovely" hand knitted black cardigans. Obviously she'd given up on the hairdresser by then and scraped her hair back into a bun which added a good 10 years on its own. This is a woman who's only 17 years older than me so hardly even a different generation! (Just different)

Crimson, no I don't listen to the radio at all nowadays. I used to listen to Radio 1 in the mornings before work as Chris Moyles would often make me laugh. However, his programme frustrated me because it was mainly pop music, not the rock and alternative stuff I mostly prefer. Eventually he, himself, got on my nerves because his show became too much chat and not enough music. The only other time I listened to radio was in the car. Then I had to get a new cd player and the aerial connection wasn't compatible. Have never got around to getting an adapter so it's just cds I listen to nowadays. I vowed I would never lose touch with the charts, fearing I would start to think 'old' but I have lost touch. However, they really don't mean much do they ? I find new music via the internet, mostly. I have 'discovered' loads of brilliant bands and singers that way .

As for 'The Hunger Games', no I haven't read the books or seen the film. Haven't really paid much attention to either. Twilight was different because I love stuff to do with vampires .

There are people who are 'unadventurous' 'dull' whatever you want to call it of all ages.. they have a narrow outlook on life and do not look to broaden experience..that is their choice and if they are content there is no problem.

Others enjoy a different approach and actively seek to keep a lively mind and enjoy new experiences. Look at the amazing Diana Athill for example!

I suppose the worry is when people appear to 'slow down' mentally. We all know physical aches and pains can impinge on activity but I hope I will always want to read, keep up with news and enjoy new films, music and theatre etc.
even if gardening and walking get beyond my physical capabilities in the future.

My DH was one of the last to do National Service.

I sometimes wonder if I am too young for my age.

I like tv progs that are obviously not aimed at my age group such as Misfits and The Inbetweeners.

And then of course there's Merlin

Elegran- having met you, I wouldn't consider you to be an 'auld yin', either!

Dh missed National service too, it was delayed as he was studying, then abolished. Our best man was in the last batch - as would I have been had I not been a girl.

At 73 I do not consider myself over the hill yet, or in a minority of "auld yins". There are lots of us around who received call-up papers, (or our boyfriends and brothers did)

marelli

She who laughs last, laughs the longest, Nellie!!

OH nearly 40 I am just 60 ,have a 30 year old son and E 14 next month have I got a chance of being old ....no all my friends are younger and at school was told Immature...so who is having the last laugh now..

I think Kitty the answer to mental ageing is in the third paragraph of your opening post. I bet your in-laws are particular as to who they mix with on holiday too. They're isolating themselves from the world and looking inwards. Therein lies stagnation of the mind.

As to physical ageing - I rather fear we're stuck with that.