An excellent article in the NZ Listener 11 July 2013 by Nick Pellegrino. It tells the stories of a number of people who challenge all the stereotypes. The article concludes with these Tips For Positive Ageing which I have copied for you.

• Avoid repeating phrases like “I’m too old for” or “My brain is going soft”. The way we talk – and think – affects how we feel.
• Keep up with advances in technology, focusing on what is useful for the way you want to live your life (there’s no need to be on top of everything).
• Choose to live where there is a com­munity to connect with. This is not the life stage to pursue the dream of isolated rural living.
• Keep your brain stimulated. New research from the University of California, Berkeley suggests that lifelong brain-stimulating habits – reading, writing, doing puzzles – are linked to lower levels of beta amyloid, a brain peptide that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Counselling can help people cope with stress, change and conflict. (Community group WellElder says 87% of its clients need help with relationship issues, mainly with adult children and partners.)
• Be flexible. Your old interests may not be possible but there will be new ones to develop. Learn to swim, surf, sing, play an instrument.
• If possible, retire from work gradually rather than going cold turkey, particularly if your career has been a driving force in your life.
• Find a passion, develop your creativity, learn how to play again. Sometimes thinking back to the things you enjoyed when you were a child can be the key to enriching the later stages of life.
• Avoid getting set in your ways. Former clinical psychologist Stephanie Allison says that although the older brain may no longer be in an acquisition phase and its thinking style will change, it is still ­possible to learn new things.