In this uncertain time of post 9/11, we certainly have enough to be insecure about. You and I don't need to be worrying about sagging bust lines and crow's-feet. I want to show you, whatever your age, that you can feel great, live fully, and be comfortable with and even embrace aging. So many of the answers to living well and longer lie within our minds. It's all about perspective and perception. This book is about all the ways you get to control your reaction.

I'm a straight shooter. If you really want to be the best you can be at whatever your age is right now, you must look in the mirror of truth about your own misconceptions. To get what you want, you need to identify what you don't want. When asked how he sculped the famous statue of David, Michelangelo replied, "I just got rid of everything that wasn't David."

Gerontologist Alex Comfort claimed that what we consider "aging" is only 25 percent the result of actual changes in body and mind; the rest is caused by the negative stereotypes placed on older folks. That's what my well-researched message is all about. First, how to recognize and say no to all the ridiculous stereotypes in the media about aging and figure out your own bias. Then to illuminate what your realistic choices are to have the best body, mind, and spirit you can, from now on. Through my personal stories of being in the media and a gathering of the best scientific data, you'll discover your own uniqueness to age gratefully and gracefully. Each chapter ends with Your Turn Now, for you to reflect on the new information and process it into an expanded way of thinking and behaving.

In these pages you will discover the role genetics and environment play in the aging process. Did you know that genetics are just 30 percent responsible in determining how long you live? Behavioral choices are the other 70 percent. (And by the time you hit fifty, lifestyle accounts for 80 percent of how you age!) As my friend Dr. Francis Collins said after his group decoded the human genome, "We're not marionettes being directed by our genes. We have free will to make daily choices."

What Dr. Collins's historic scientific discovery means is that the choices you and I make every day matter the most in how long and well we live. For example, heart disease is the number one cause of death, but 70 percent of arterial aging is preventable. Fifty percent of illnesses associated with aging (diabetes, broken bones, heart attack, and more) can be prevented. You'll learn about the differences between chronological and biological aging and what commonsense choices you can make to be healthier in body, mind, and spirit.

You'll find out the secrets of some of the healthiest old people on the planet -- the Okinawans, who are fit and functioning into their nineties and beyond. Doctors who've studied them claim that 80 percent of the nation's coronary units, one-third of the cancer wards, and a lot of the nursing homes would be shut down if Americans made choices more like these elders. And you'll meet several others groups of fabulously long-living folks -- a group of nuns, for instance, whose inner lives have been studied for decades, as well as folks who have been tracked by Harvard for over fifty years. They'll point us in the direction of what emotional and spiritual qualities we can begin cultivating and specific behaviors to stay vigorous and become happier throughout our entire existence.

You'll even see why practicing gratitude is so important and how an everyday simple act of being generous can add years to your life.

We'll also address the challenges of caring for parents while we're aging. I'll offer steps to deal with the grief that comes with loss, and explain how to nurture friendships and romantic love through the life span. And of course you'll be hearing from me about what I am learn-

ing from my own personal adventure of aging and inside stories of celebrity friends. Since laughter is such a life enhancer, I intend that we have a rollicking good time along the way. (A few birthday party games for when we're older: (1) Sag, You're It; (2) Pin the Toupee on the Bald Guy; (3) Twenty Questions Shouted into Your Good Ear; (4) Hide and Go Pee.)

Ultimately, my fondest hope is that you become inspired to CHANGE: Choose Having A New Growth Experience. This is the only life we get, don't waste another drop. Really, that's the whole point of living, whatever the decade you find yourself in. Grief expert Elisabeth Kübler-Ross put it this way: "It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive -- to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are."

In order for us to be fulfilled, you and I should begin challenging negative media images that contribute to depression around aging. In many ways, we seventy-eight million baby boomers are already doing that.

Reprinted from “Naomi's Guide to Aging Gratefully:
Facts, Myths, and Good News for Boomers ” by Naomi Judd, MD. Copyright 2007 by Naomi Judd. Permission granted by Simon & Schuster.

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