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• Go out and have fun. If you are reminded of a song, sing it aloud to somebody.  That’s how you remember the good ones.
• Dance.  Forget this “dance like nobody’s watching” nonsense. Show your stuff!
• Remember Birthdays.  Everyone loves to get a birthday card and it’s good to remember, every month, all the wonderful perople you have in your life.
• Don’t worry. It’s a big waste of time.  Worry won’t change a thing.
• Do it your way.   Whatever it is, if you’ve decided to do it, do it the best you know how.  It may not be the “right” way, but you’ll do it longer and better.
• Say yes to invitations. There will be plenty of time to be alone.
• Pray. Remember everyone you love in your prayers at night.  It’s good for you, it’s good for them, and it beats counting sheep.
• Enjoy tourself.  Anything can  be fun, and everty job goes quicker with a bright attitude.
• Tell your stories.  Over and over again.  They are little pieces of your life.  Like pearls on a string.  Take your pearls out and wear them, let them be heard.  Just like pearls, storoes get better with the telling.

Submitted by Janet Oullette

If you are aging and want to do it gracefully and without imposing on friends and relatives, make it a habit to read the AARP Magazine and Monthly Bulletin. Both are excellent sources of helpful information and are classy publications.  The September issues are full of valuable information about taking care of yourself and learning about how election year politics can influence your life. 

In the magazine is a very intriguing article about knowing when you are old enough to dcecide it is okay to die.  Cover shots of Tommy Lee Jones and Merle Streep take you inside to their view on how to keep passion alive.  Dr. Oz is a regular contributor on a variety of health related issues.  The overall view I get is that AARP understands the need to age with dignity and independance.

This book is a must read.  We make more decisions from intuition than we think, and we rationalize them with our intellect.  This has widespread implications for psychology, religion, and politics.   We can be “groupish” and individual simultaneously.  Haidt generates six different “foundations”.

His favoroite metaphor is a rider on an elephant.  The elephant represents our intuitions (outside of awareness, automatic actions) and the rider represents rational attempts to explain our actions.  The size difference matters!

Gene Cohen in his book, The Creative Age presents data showing that involvement in the arts helps to sustain our brain health and keep us vital as we age.  Gene, now deceased, was our first featured speaker for SCOPE’s yearly Winter Forum.  This group is made up of artists, poets, authors, and creative people in general.