Growing Bolder Magazine: Vol. 34

REINVENTING RADIO: T H E P OW E R OF PODCASTS

TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE

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CONTENTS

60 20

Stewart Cook / WWD/Shutterstock

features 20

A DESPERATE AND SHAMELESS MARRIAGE Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Willam H. Macy talk career and marriage

34 SOMEONE LIKE ME

The power of example.

100 years and 100 yards.

40 TOP 5 HEALTH TRENDS

The hottest health trends you

need to know about now 60

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Photo: Ari Seth Cohen

HITCHING A RIDE ON THE COSMOS Deepak Chopra's deep dive into the human consciousness

64 STYLE AT ANY AGE

Ari Seth Cohen ignites a

style revolution

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health-wealth connection 4 EDITOR'S NOTE 8 CONTRIBUTORS 10 YOUR TAKE

Readers weigh in 14 GROWING BOLDER WITH

Big Names. Bold Lives.

63 FUNCTIONAL FITNESS

Progress, not perfection, is the name of the game 99 ROCK STARS OF AGING

The Motorcycle Matriarch rolls on 110 THE TAKEAWAY

Entertainment icons Dick Van Dyke and

Carl Reiner on growing old and loving it 112 GROWING BOLDER STYLE

A best-selling author and active aging expert

opens up her closet

food & nutrition 39

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COMFORT FOOD FOR FRIENDS A recipe with the power to unite ONE DAY AT A TIME Valerie Bertinelli turns toward the light RESTAURANT REVIEW: BOKA CHICAGO A must-visit in Chicago—if you can get a reservation LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE Culinary Medicine—discovering the healing, life-enhancing benefits of food

arts & entertainment 80

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MIRACLES OUT OF NOWHERE Robby Steinhardt of Kansas bounces back from near death MOTOR CITY MELODY Allee Willis is a hit maker who doesn't know how to read, write or play music BREAKING BARRIERS In the face of racism, sexism and ageism, Debbie Allen moves forward and gives back

translating tech 18

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OPEN YOUR MIND ONLINE Become a lifelong learner ENTERTAINMENT IN YOUR HEAD Podcast primer. What they are and how to listen.

TOP 5 TECH TRENDS How the digital age is changing your world

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AGE PROOF YOUR MONEY Solving the Longevity Paradox THREE QUESTIONS THAT CAN PREDICT FUTURE QUALITY OF LIFE Are you prepared for the future? These unlikely questions will get you thinking.

masters sports 28

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ROWDY'S WORLD Life lessons from an Olympic icon WHO YOU CALLING OLD? Taking control of your future

growing bolder adventures 90

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TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Finding their lives' purposes in a foreign country 5 FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES AT THE GRAND CANYON Exploring one of the world's greatest natural wonders

the art of caregiving 79

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IT'S GOING TO BE MESSY AND THAT'S OK We explore the art of caregiving AGING SCRIPTS AND TRANSFORMATION Aligning your internalized expectations for positive aging outcomes

personal transformation 32

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TO MAXIMIZE, MINIMIZE As we age, less is more THE REINVENTION EVANGELIST How Jane Pauley bounced back when the phone stopped ringing THE JOY OF GRANDPARENTING Becoming a Grandma changed Lesley Stahl’s life SAY YES The most important word in a Growing Bolder vocabulary MOTHER NATURE How Marjory Stoneman Douglas saved the Everglades at 79

ON THE COVE R

in every issue

Mort and Ginny Linder have been in love for more than 55 years. Street style photographer Ari Seth Cohen snapped their photo near their home in San Francisco.

EDITOR'S NOTE

I often say that age isn’t a disease, it’s an opportunity. However, it would be more accurate to say that age isn’t a disease unless we believe it to be, in which case that’s what it will surely become. Age is likewise not an opportunity, unless we believe it to be.

Whether you want it or not, whether you decide to wield it or not, you have the power to decide if age is a disease or an opportunity. If you decide that it’s an opportunity, you and only you get to define what that opportunity is.

The key to growing older is to not mourn what’s lost, but to celebrate what remains; to not identify with limitation but with possibility. Growing Bolder is about accepting the realities of our mortality, but rejecting the lies of our ageist culture.

Growing Bolder is the path forward, whether you’re a 35-year-old beginning to realize that you’re getting older; a 55-year-old wondering what’s next; a 65-year-old wondering if there is a what’s next; or a 75or 85-year-old searching for purpose and meaning in a new life stage filled with nearly limitless possibilities.

Growing Bolder is about belief, desire, dedication and persistence. You must believe that there can be more, desire to have more, dedicate yourself to achieving more and persist in your efforts to create more.

If that sounds like work, it is. It’s the best work that you can get. It’s the most rewarding, satisfying and life-enriching work possible.

Growing Bolder begins with changing our belief system about growing older. This would be difficult enough if we lived in a vacuum instead of an overtly and aggressively ageist culture that seems to be growing more mean-spirited by the day.

While we battle for inclusion, the ethic in ascendance today is exclusion. It’s open season on older people, sick people, poor people, people of color, people 4

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GROWING BOLDER BEGINS WITH CHANGING OUR BELIEF SYSTEM ABOUT GROWING OLDER. from other countries and people of different religions.

It’s difficult to believe that a society willing to turn away from the poor and the sick will experience a large-scale revelation about the value of older people and the opportunities of growing older. Such change will, in fact, occur, but it will occur slowly—one person at a time.

The good news is that we can all be that person, because the truth and the magic is this: If you can change your belief system about growing older, you can change how you age. You can transform your future from decades of loss and limitation to decades of passion, purpose and possibility.

Go forward with excitement and enthusiasm knowing that your potential is unlimited—no matter the decade or life stage that you’re now living.

Never allow the outside world, the media, your insecurities, your friends or even the time and effort already invested in achieving one thing keep you from changing course and trying something else.

Stretch yourself. Try new things, meet new people and consider alternative views on everything.

Flexibility of body and mind is an important ingredient in active longevity.

Remember that medicine is not health care.

Medicine is sick care. Good food, vigorous exercise, great friends, sound sleep and mental stimulation are health care.

Remember that what the mind believes the body embraces—our psychological health drives our physiological health. We anticipate what we believe

to be the negative benchmarks of growing older so powerfully that we end up creating these benchmarks —and the result is devastating on a personal and societal level.

We are literally killing ourselves with our belief systems, robbing ourselves not only of years of life but quality of life—and adding billions of dollars to our national healthcare costs.

Life is about learning, and the last great task is learning how to grow older. Growing Bolder is not about changing what is—it’s about finding the power and the possibility in what is.

Don’t ever say, “I’ll be happy when I achieve my goal.” Because if you’re not happy now, you won’t be happy then. Happiness can only be found in the journey, not the destination. As many wise men and women have stated, there’s no way to happiness— happiness is the way. As far as we know, this is a oneway trip, and it’s a shame to not cherish every mile of the journey.

How do I define successful aging? Never stop growing. And more specifically, never stop Growing Bolder. Close your eyes and imagine someone who is 60, 80 or even 100. Now imagine more. A lot more.

Now go make it happen.

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Volume 34 FOUNDER AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Marc Middleton EDITOR IN CHIEF Jackie Carlin DEPUTY EDITOR Robert Thompson CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ashley Heafy EXECUTIVE EDITOR Randy Noles FEATURES DIRECTOR Bill Shafer SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Katy Widrick PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Jill Middleton TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Joshua Doolittle MEDICAL DIRECTOR Robert Masson M.D. EDITORIAL SPECIAL FEATURES Emily Thompson, Bobby Wesley VIDEO PRODUCER Jason Morrow, Michael Nanus CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AGING RESEARCH Joseph F. Coughlin Ph.D. TRAVEL Gary McKechnie NUTRITION Tara Gidus Collingwood ACTIVE LONGEVITY Vonda Wright, M.D. THE ART OF CAREGIVING Kay Van Norman PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION Dr. Deepak Chopra, M.D. ENVIRONMENT Leslie Kemp Poole AGING INNOVATION Bill Thomas, M.D. SAY YES Wendy Chioji FUNCTIONAL FITNESS Dan Ritchie, Ph.D. GROWING BOLDER PRESS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Marc Middleton PRESIDENT Robert Thompson SUBSCRIPTIONS

For subscriber information or address changes visit GrowingBolder.com/subscribe, or email subscriptions@growingbolder.com NEWSLETTERS

To sign up for Growing Bolder's weekly newsletter, go to GrowingBolder.com/newsletter COMMENTS

Contact us via social media @GrowingBolder or email us at feedback@GrowingBolder.com ADVERTISING AND MEDIA SALES

For information about advertising and sponsorships email sales@GrowingBolder.com GROWING BOLDER IS PUBLISHED BY GROWING BOLDER PRESS

All Editorial Content ©GrowingBolder. Growing Bolder is a registered trademark of Bolder Broadcasting Inc. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents of this magazine without written permission for the Publisher is prohibited. Growing Bolder Press makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all published content. Neither the publisher nor advertisers will be held responsible for any errors found herein and the publisher accepts no liability for the accuracy of statements makde by advertisers in ad and/or paid promotional features.

The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Growing Bolder Press. Growing Bolder Press does not endorse or recommend any article, product, service or information found within the articles. All content is presented for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional, legal, financial or medical advice. Growing Bolder Press expressly disclaims and denies any liability for any decisions made based upon the information presented.

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CONTRIBUTORS

LESLIE KEMP POOLE Leslie Kemp Poole is an author and assistant professor of environmental studies at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Her work reflects her interest in how women, who historically had little political power, rallied together in grassroots efforts to protect the environment and preserve natural resources.

J O S E PH F. CO U G H L I N Joseph F. Coughlin, Ph.D. is Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. A best-selling author, his research examines how the disruptive demographics of an aging society, social trends and technology will shape future innovations in business and government. He’s a regular guest on major media outlets worldwide.

TA R A G I D U S CO L L I N GWO O D Tara Gidus Collingwood is one of the most sought after nutrition experts in the country. An accomplished runner and author, her clients include Walt Disney World, Tupperware, the NBA’s Orlando Magic, the United States Tennis Association and the University of Central Florida Athletics department.

GA RY M C K E C H N I E Gary McKechnie is one of America’s most unique travel writers. The author of the best-selling Great American Motorcycle Tours, McKechnie also wrote National Geographic’s USA 101 and Ten Best of Everything: National Parks.

He lectures on American travel and history aboard ships of the Cunard, Seabourn, and Silversea lines.

W E N DY C H I OJ I Wendy Chioji is an award-winning broadcast journalist, adventure racer, mountain guide and Ironman triathlete. A three-time cancer survivor, Chioji is host of the 4-time EMMY© Award nominated program, Surviving & Thriving. A passionate fundraiser and philanthropist, Chioji is a tireless advocate for cancer survivors worldwide.

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K AY VA N N O R M A N Kay Van Norman is president of Brilliant Aging and an internationally known author, writer and thought leader in healthy aging. Her passion is uncovering hidden barriers so that people can move from intending to age well into taking actions that will help ensure that they age well.

D E E PA K C H O PR A Deepak Chopra, M.D. FACP is the founder of The Chopra Foundation and cofounder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing. A world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, he’s the author of 85 books translated into over 43 languages. The Huffington Post ranked him the world’s #1 most influential thinker in medicine.

VO N DA W R I G H T Vonda Wright, M.D. is an orthopedic surgeon and internationally recognized authority on active aging and mobility.

Specializing in sports medicine, her pioneering research in mobility and musculoskeletal aging is changing the way we view and treat the aging process.

DA N R I TC H I E Dan Ritchie Ph.D. is co-founder and President of the Functional Aging Institute, certifying trainers worldwide to safely and successfully work with older clients. He’s an author and speaker with expertise in personal training for special populations: athletes, stroke recovery, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Fibromyalgia and Alzheimer’s disease.

BILL THOMAS Bill Thomas M.D. helped de-institutionalize long-term care worldwide as founder of The Eden Alternative and The Green House Project. An international authority on geriatric medicine, Thomas now performs on his “Age of Disruption Tour,” a traveling, theatrical performance designed to change the way our culture views aging.

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YOUR TAKE

What quality do you find most attractive in a partner?

Our Next “Your Take�

New trend alert! Women (and men!) of all ages are dying their hair grey or silver. Have you gone grey, either naturally or in the salon? How has it changed your life?

Tell us at GrowingBolder.com/yourtake and your response could be featured in our next issue.

My wife is amazing for many reasons, the biggest and best is her ability to be strong and move on during any challenge, staying fit at an older age, never ever giving up. I believe her positive attitude helps both her and me maintain a quality life.

SAL GENTILE

Providing space to individually grow!

High EQ (emotional quotient), sense of adventure, appreciation for life, and a sense of humor.

YO L A N DA N E E LY

Humility, grace, strength, and energy.

The aspects I love in my partner are the aspects I have learned to value in me.

C A R O LY N W E L L S

The most attractive quality to me is empathic awareness. The least attractive is selfish indifference.

RICK D LEONARD C AT H Y S C H A R E T G

Unfortunately current politics became the ruin of a 5yr relationship. If you can't agree to disagree, its not going to work. We had everything else.

PAU L I N E DA S I LVA

Kindness to others. I think that is the most attractive trait in anyone. I look at how they treat people that serve, i.e. waitresses, bus boys, greeters in stores. How they speak of the less fortunate.

LORI MOHRMANN SCENA D I N A H LY N N C O L E G R OV E 10

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Kindness, compassion and a good sense of humor.

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Resilience and risk taking.

Meaning and mission.

Passion and perseverance.

Growing Bolder is not just media, it’s a movement.

Growing Bolder’s EMMY® Award-winning broadcast journalists are Rebranding Aging® by sharing the inspirational stories of men and women redefining the possibilities of life after 45.

PO DC A S T

Available on NPR1. To subscribe visit GrowingBolder.com/podcast

Visit: GrowingBolder.com Subscribe: GrowingBolder.com/subscribe Follow: @GrowingBolder

R AD I O

Now in its 10th season. Check your local NPR listings or visit GrowingBolder.com/radio

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TV

Season Four now airing. To check local listings visit GrowingBolder.com/tv

SU RVIVI N G & TH RIVI N G T V

The 4--time EmmyÂŽ nominated series is coming soon to a station near you.

Visit GrowingBolder.com/survivingand-thriving

MAGA Z I N E

Live life boldy. To subscribe visit GrowingBolder.com/magazine

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GROWING BOLDER WITH Diana Nyad is an author, journalist, motivational speaker and legendary long-distance swimmer.

D IA NA N YA D

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In the 1970s, Diana Nyad first dreamed of becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to the U.S. without a shark cage. She tried, and failed.

Thirty-two years went by and she couldn’t get that quest out of her mind.

At 60, she tried again and failed again—then failed in two subsequent attempts. Even those closest to her told her it might not be possible, but she refused to give up.

Finally, at 64, Nyad achieved her goal, swimming 110 miles in 53 grueling hours. “When I got out of the water, I had two messages,” she recalls. “Never, ever give up, and you’re never too old to chase your dreams.”

“We’re all living on this one-way street. When you get to the end, you want to have zero regrets. The way to do that is by realizing your age is not a limitation.”

Photo: Ranier Hosch

David “Hackman” Hackett is a professional skateboarder, fine artist, graphic designer, executive life and relationship coach, drug recovery guru, motivational speaker and businessman.

After eight nominations and 50 years of skating, David Hackett was recently inducted into the Skateboading Hall of Fame. “I’m beyond stoked,” he says. “I’m humbled and honored to join the legends of our sport.”

In the late 1970s, Hackett and his crew helped transform skateboarding into a worldwide sport. A pioneer of extreme skateboarding stunts, he won his first world championship at the age 15 and his most recent in his mid-50s.

“I’ll never stop riding,” Hackett says of his unprecedented streak of high-performance longevity.

“The moral of my story is, ‘Be true to yourself.’” He adds. “Do what you love and what’s in your heart. It’s our responsibility as humans to get up in the morning and do what excites us. I’m gonna roll on my skateboard until I’m dead. If I die doing it, all the better.

I would die doing something I truly love!”

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DAVI D HAC K E T T

Margaret Trudeau is an actress, photographer, former television talk show hostess, mental health advocate, former First Lady of Canada and mother of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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Margaret Trudeau has suffered with the stigma of mental illness for decades. “I was diagnosed more than 40 years ago with bipolar disorder and spent decades walking down the dark side of the street.”

Trudeau is hardly alone. It’s estimated that one in five U.S. adults has a serious mental health condition. Of that number, however, 56 percent don’t seek treatment. The result is often suicide or incarceration. Suicide has surged in the past 15 years, and the rise is especially pronounced among adults age 45 to 64—up 63 percent for women and 43 percent for men.

When mental illness doesn’t lead to suicide, it increasingly leads to time behind bars. Trudeau says accepting the fact that you can’t save yourself from mental illness is a matter of life or death.

“No matter how smart you are, how educated you are, what a wonderful family you come from, you cannot fix yourself. I tried for years and it doesn’t work. It’s imperative that you reach out for help.”

Debra Winger is a three-time Academy Award-nominated actress best known for roles in An Officer and a Gentleman, Urban Cowboy, Terms of Endearment and Shadowlands.

Debra Winger walked away from Hollywood at 40, taking a six-year hiatus to focus on her family. Her career has heated back up with roles in TV and film including 2017’s The Lovers, a poignant comedy that explores a longtime marriage turned sour.

“Relationships have to continuously evolve and go through countless iterations to survive,” she says. “We’re all on the same quest, trying to stay invigorated.”

Winger has never enjoyed celebrity and didn’t miss Hollywood.

But she did miss the challenge and stimulation of acting and made the decision to re-engage on her own terms.

“We can’t be afraid to take chances as we age,” she says. “Fear is what keeps us from moving forward in life and leads to unhappiness. Life is about finding our groove, no matter our age.

So, don’t let fear or lack of interest stunt your personal growth or sabotage your relationship.”

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D E B R A WI N G E R Photo Courtesy of Debra Winger

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GROWING BOLDER WITH Gloria Gaynor is a Grammy-winning artist and member of the Dance Music Hall of Fame who is still performing around the world. A sexual abuse survivor, she’s also passionate about helping abuse victims by sharing her story and supporting several charities.

Gloria Gaynor didn’t invent disco, but she certainly put it on the map with her 1979 anthem, “I Will Survive,” which sold more than 7 million copies.

“I still remember the first time I read the lyrics for the song,” she says. “I knew immediately it was a hit; I hadn’t even heard the melody yet. Then when I heard the song, I was like, ‘Oh yes. Everyone is going to be able to relate to this song. Everyone is going to make this song the theme of their lives.’”

She was right. “I Will Survive” became an anthem of empowerment for survivors of all kinds.

“It’s so uplifting and so empowering,” she says. “I’m not surprised that as I get older, the song doesn’t. Nearly 40 years later, I still feel so blessed to have this song in my life.”

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G LO R IA GAYN O R

Photo Courtesy of Gloria Gaynor

Roger McGuinn is a founding member of The Byrds and credited with creating country rock, folk rock and psychedelic rock. His Grammy-nominated Folk Den Project is helping preserve American Folk music.

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Rock ‘n’ roll innovator Roger McGuinn still tours worldwide and has no plans slow down.

“People ask me all the time how long I’ll keep performing,” he says.

“The answer is as long as I can. Why would you want to stop doing something that you love? That’s the secret to living!”

McGuinn says he’s always been an admirer of Andreas Segovia, the great classical guitarist who was still performing concerts at 94. He was booked at Carnegie Hall, but died before the gig “That’s what I plan on doing. My advice is find something you love and make it your lifestyle.”

McGuinn and his wife, Camilla, manage their own label and the production and distribution of his music. If he’s not traveling or performing, McGuinn is a passionate environmental advocate and a technology buff.

Gilbert Gottfried is a stand-up comedian, an actor and renowned voice-actor known best known for his performance as the wise-cracking parrot, Iago, in Aladdin and the frustrated Aflac duck.

Gilbert Gottfried is a comedian known for shocking audiences. These days, he’s exploring life lessons on his popular podcast Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast, in which he interviews his childhood heroes who are out of the spotlight but as engaged and active as ever.

Gottfried says he’s learned so much from his heroes.

“I don’t think anyone is ever really comfortable with their age,” he says. “When you hear it as a number, it’s horrible!”

But, he says, he recently interviewed comic actor Larry Storch, who’s in his 90s but still and gets up every day and stands on his head. “He asked his doctor if he should still keep doing that,” Gottfried says. “The doctor said, ‘Well, you’ve lived this long, you might as well keep doing it.’”

“These people are just as good as they ever were.

And that’s something I really look up to. They give me hope for my future.”

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G I LB E RT GOT TFR I E D

Michio Kaku is a pioneer in the fields of string theory and quantum physics, a renowned futurist and professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York. Kaku is a radio show host and a best-selling author, including his latest The Future of Humanity.

Michio Kaku may be the world’s foremost techno-optimist. He predicts wild, technology-driven advances in the coming decades that will transform how we live, how long we live and where we live.

“The hippocampus, which processes memories deep inside the brain, becomes corrupted and fails in people with Alzheimer’s,” he says.

“In the not-so-distant future, we may be able to upload memories into the hippocampus.”

Perhaps his most mind-blowing prediction is that we’ll one day be able to digitize and extract human consciousness—something he calls a “connectome”—and transport it into the cosmos.

“We're going to be able put the connectome on a laser beam and shoot it to the moon at the speed of light,” Kaku says. “In one second, our consciousness is on the moon. In 20 minutes, it’s on Mars.”

Once there, the consciousness would be downloaded into a M I C H I O K AKU new body or a machine, making space travel unnecessary.

Beam me up, Scotty!

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Exceptional Educational Resources To Flex Your Mental Muscle

BY B O B BY W E S L E Y 18

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The secret to successful aging can be summed up in three words: never stop learning. Studies have shown that challenging your mind and developing new skills can slow cognitive aging.

Today, picking up new skills or pursuing passions has never been easier and more accessible. After all, with smart devices you’re basically carrying around all human history in your pocket.

And sure, you could go back to school and pull a few all-nighters—but if the point of learning is personal growth, you can motivate yourself to become a better, smarter you through online sources.

From accessible talks to free courses from top universities, there are more educational tools at your disposal than ever.

But since you only get out of education what you’re willing to put in, it’s time to chase that dream, learn something new—and stay curious.

TA K E A B R E A K W I T H T E D

D O N ’ T G E T RU S T Y

Known the world over for “ideas worth spreading,” TED Talks bring together experts and innovators who present big ideas, life hacks and life lessons in easily consumable bites.

If you have just a few minutes to spare, you’ll hear captivating presentations that you simply can’t stop talking about. Free at TED.com.

Stay sharp with tools designed to hone professional skills useful in the job market and in your personal life.

If Photoshop, video, web and business applications are your forte, Lynda (now LinkedIn Learning) offers a great library of more than 3,000 well organized, approachable tutorials.

For a catchall with more than 65,000 topics, check out Udemy for targeted guides and how-to’s.

Lynda offers free trials with subscription options; Udemy features àla carte course pricing.

PA I N T BY T H E N U M B E R S O N YO U T U B E

Ever wanted to learn an instrument or take up painting? Check YouTube!

Between the cat videos and the viral videos de jure, there are countless talented individuals who share their passion with tutorials on everything from perfecting closeup magic to website wizardry.

Take the time to find a video creator you like, and you’ll have an onscreen mentor you can start or stop anytime. Free with advertising, or go ad-free with YouTube Red. M E E T YO U R H E RO E S

Well, almost. Masterclass is a newcomer to the online learning scene, but the video course service lets you hear directly from creators on how they shaped their craft.

Learn comedy from Steve Martin, photography from Annie Leibovitz or cooking from Gordon Ramsay. (No word on whether Ramsay offers a separate “yelling” class. $90/class or $180 for a yearly all-access pass).

LIFELONG LE ARNING

BAC K TO S C H O O L …

WITHOUT THE SCHOOL

Why enroll in college when top universities can come to you? MOOCs—or Massive Open Online Courses— are rethinking access to higher learning with collegelevel and Ivy League courses available to everyone, regardless of location or means.

With course in ethics, history, architecture, STEM—you name it—you can learn at your own pace with course materials and video lectures. You can also dive into assignments and online community forums with scheduled courses.

TedX and MIT OpenCourse provide full syllabi, video lectures and resources to follow along at your own pace. Some, like edX and Coursera, even offer course certificates (though the graduation ceremony is up you).

Courses are free with small fees for optional certificates.

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A DESPERATE & SHAMELESS

BY B I LL S HAFE R

Divorce.

It’s one of Hollywood’s most popular pastimes.

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It seems that Tinseltown unions just aren’t built to last. Stories of breakups fill the tabloids.

Two long-time marriages ended recently when actress Geena Davis and her fourth husband Reza Jarrahy ended their 17 years of matrimony, as did Cars frontman Ric Ocasek and former supermodel Paulina Porizkova, who were wed for nearly 20 years.

Most showbiz relationships don’t last nearly that long, which is what makes Felicity Huffman, 55, and William H. Macy, 68, stand out. They’ve seemingly done the impossible.

They’re making a Hollywood marriage work as their careers continue to thrive.

“It’s something that’s brought to our attention all the time,” says Macy. “Everyone acts like we cured cancer or something!”

The reason for the curiosity could come from the fact that Hollywood isn’t the only region where residents have relationship issues. By some estimates, half of all marriages across the country fail—and the divorce rate for married couples over the age of 50 has doubled since 1990, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

R E L AT I O N S H I P S

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WELL, I WAS CRAZY ABOUT HER THE FIRST TIME I SAW HER.

More shockingly, the divorce rate has roughly tripled for those 65 and older. So, people want to know how Huffman and Macy have managed to avoid the pitfalls that have doomed so many dream-couple relationships. Macy is puzzled by the question. “Well, I was crazy about her the first second I saw her,” he explains. “We both do the same thing for a living, and we both want what’s best for each other. So, it has never really been difficult for us to have a good marriage. It was a gift from the gods, if you ask me.”

Neither actor is accustomed to receiving “gifts from the gods” in their careers. Huffman toiled away for 20 years, pouring her heart into ill-fated television shows, Broadway plays and independent films.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d go years without working and not making any money, and I tried to quit the business many times,” she says. “I think several things saved me. One, I have no other marketable skills, so I had nowhere else to turn. Two, I was a member of the Atlantic Theater Company, which gave me a home when I wasn’t working. It’s also where I met Bill.”

Macy is one of the founders of the theater, located in Manhattan, and Huffman was one of his acting students. Their attraction was immediate, although their commitment to it was not.

Macy pursued Huffman for 15 years, even proposing on more than one occasion. “I was just afraid to make the commitment,” she says, noting that her parents divorced when she was an infant. “I was afraid of marriage.”

She’s not alone in her fears. Fewer Americans are getting married. According to statistics from the National Center for Health, only about 50 percent of Americans will ever marry. By contrast, 72 percent 22

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tied the knot in 1960.

Huffman says she understands completely—but is glad that she overcame her fears: “I’d have to say our marriage is amazing. I couldn’t be happier.”

They do point out that, like every couple, they have their moments. But they’ve come up with techniques to smooth things over. They offer two tips that they believe help keep their relationship fresh.

The first is keeping a clear line of communication open, and expressing their feelings. “We make time once a week to sit down and talk,” says Huffman. “We limit the interruptions and try to find out what’s really going on with each other.”

Macy believes that an occasional change of scenery works wonders. “It really helps to sneak away from time to time,” he says. “Even if it’s just for the weekend.”

Whatever they’re doing, it’s working; they’re coming up on their 21st wedding anniversary.

Concurrently, their careers are blossoming. Macy is an Emmy- and SAG Award-winning actor, an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, and a writer for theater, film and television.

He currently stars as Frank Gallagher in the Showtime series Shameless, a role that has earned him five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He’s one of the few actors who can move seamlessly from big-budget films such as Jurassic Park III to smaller indies such as the critically beloved Coen Brothers flick Fargo.

Macy’s other film credits include Seabiscuit, The Cooler, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Door to Door, Wild Hogs and Room. He made his feature directorial debut at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival with Rudderless and followed that up with The Layover.

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This year he directed Krystal, a film in which he stars alongside Huffman. “It’s my kind of humor, juxtaposing high tragedy with farce, and I love that,” he explains. “I get to play Felicity’s husband. There’s a little magical realism in it, and at its core it’s a very heartfelt story.”

Huffman became a household name playing the role of Lynette Scavo in the wildly successful television series Desperate Housewives. Not only did the show help break open her career—she believes it’s been a big boost to all middle-aged actresses.

“Housewives was sort of a watershed moment where executives realized that women in their 40s are viable, and they can make everybody money and be interesting and funny,” she explains. “I think it changed the landscape—and I hope that it continues to change.”

Macy agrees, adding that in his profession, getting older presents challenges for both men and women.

“It’s tough in this business because there’s a photographic record of our deterioration,” he says. “But a couple of things have happened. One is, we baby boomers love to watch movies, so there’s work out there for baby boomer actors. And the other thing is, the overall explosion of television production. Everybody seems to be working—people of all ages.”

Huffman believes the increased opportunities have made it easier for actors to feel comfortable aging.

“I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins,” she told the audience during her Golden Globe acceptance speech. “But I think as people, our job is to become who we really are. One of the perks is that you can usually learn to come home to yourself. You’re a little more comfortable in your skin.”

Neither Macy nor Huffman seems to be caught up in ego building. They simply love their craft.

“I believe it’s because we grew up in the theater and spent half our careers there,” says Macy. “It’s such a difficult way to make a living that it teaches you to be humble and thankful for anything that comes your way.” Over the years, they’ve also learned the strength of character needed to overcome the seeds of doubt—which they say have been constant companions.

Krystal 2017

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Josh Stringer Courtesy of Great Point Media/Paladin

Shameless 2017

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I NEVER THOUGHT I’D FEEL THIS WAY, BUT I LOVE MY AGE RIGHT NOW. I REALLY DO!

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“I do remember a point where things got so bad I was just about to give in, thinking the writing’s on the wall,” says Huffman. “And I went to a beauty school and picked up an application, thinking maybe I’d try to be a cosmetologist. Just then my phone rang and it was my agent with an acting job. It really teaches you to live in the present.”

The present is a pretty nice place for Macy and Huffman. Their two daughters, Sofia, 17, and Georgia, 16, are at the verge of adulthood. Macy credits not becoming a father until after he had turned 50 with helping him to be a better and more appreciative dad.

“I think having already gone through so much in my life gave me a better perspective, and maybe a little more patience,” he says. “Plus, I never thought I’d be a father in the first place, so it really turned out to be the best.”

Despite having her youngest daughter at the age of 39, Huffman is so intrigued by parenting that she has a section on her website, whattheflicka.com, dedicated to parental tips and advice from herself and a variety of bloggers.

“It’s not that I’m fascinated by parenting as much as overwhelmed,” she says. “I’ve found it at times to be frightening, alienating and relentlessly difficult—and the most wonderful role I’ve ever had.”

As for future projects, Macy says he’s keeping an eye out for things that amuse him.

“I don’t know why, but these days I just want to laugh,” he explains. “I love comedy, and I feel like the world needs to laugh and to really live. I hope my work and my life with Felicity reflects that. I never thought I’d feel this way, but I love my age right now. I really do!”

Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy are Growing Bolder together, shamelessly in love with life and with one another.

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ROWDY'S WORLD

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

Let’s see. Rowdy Gaines is a three-time Olympic gold medalist who broke 10 world records between 1978 and 1984, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a multiple masters world record holder and was voted one of the 30 most influential people in the history of swimming.

Oh, and there’s more. He’s an eight-time NBC Olympic broadcaster, the voice of swimming, the unofficial worldwide ambassador for swimming, the subject of a recent book, Rowdy Rising and now the focus of a new documentary film, ROWDY from ESPN TV journalist and director Hannah Storm.

ROWDY premiered at the Greenwich International Film Festival in June before airing on the SEC Network and ESPN in July. The film chronicles the comeback-filled career of our friend and Growing Bolder contributor.

“It was incredibly humbling.” Gaines says of the film’s premier. “I whispered to my wife midway through that I really should be dead. So many people said so many nice things. It was a surreal and humbling experience.”

Gaines admits to getting emotional when the film describes his relationship with former coach Richard Quick. A six-time Olympic coach, Quick personally trained Gaines for seven years, helping him stay in the sport through the 1980 Olympic boycott and preparing him for the 1984 games.

Quick died in 2009, just six months after being diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.

“It was really his inspiration, his words and his actions that led me to the gold medal,” Gaines says. “By the time we got to ’84 and I stepped up on the starting blocks, I knew that I was perfectly prepared. I wasn't sure I was going to win—but I knew that he had prepared me both mentally and physically. I simply could not have done it without him.”

After the ’84 Olympics, Gaines gave away all three of his gold medals—one to his mother, one to his father and one to Quick.

Gaines’ journey to Olympic glory was anything but easy. He didn’t start swimming until his junior year in high school, after failing at every other sport. “I was cut from football, baseball, tennis, golf and track before I found swimming,” he says. The real secret to success is not giving up. Sometimes, even what we’re born to do isn’t apparent.”

Gaines’ self-discipline became obvious when college coaches began noticing his high school times in Winter Haven, Florida—not exactly a hot bed of competitive swimming.

“They all said that I needed to work out twice a day, but our team didn’t have morning practices,” he recalls. “So, I snuck into nearby hotel pools and worked out alone in the dark before school.”

There were five hotels in the Winter Haven area, each of which Gaines used for practice until a manager would ask him to leave. “I’d move to the next hotel and worked out there,” he recalls.

It wasn’t an ideal training regimen, but it was enough to earn him a scholarship to Auburn University, where he won five NCAA championships and established himself as the world’s top sprinter. He was a heavy favorite to win multiple medals at the MASTERS SPORTS

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Rowdy Gaines with his long-time broadcasting partner Dan Hicks at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: NBC Sports Group

Rowdy Gaines calls himself addicted to his family, including his wife of 32 years Jude and their four daughters and three granddaughters.

Gaines says watching ROWDY, a documentary produced by ESPN’s Hannah Storm (pictured, above) was a surreal and humbling experience.

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...We’re all on a roller coaster ride through life—and we have to live through the valleys to get to the peaks.

1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow—but the U.S. boycotted the games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

In the 1980s, when college was over, so were swimming careers.

Unlike today, there were no professional swimmers. Believing that his Olympic dreams had been permanently dashed, Gaines decided to quit the sport after graduating in 1981.

However, encouraged by his parents and Quick, he called upon his self-discipline once again, committing to four more years of training. In 1984, at the age of 25, he became what was then the oldest male swimmer in history to win an Olympic gold medal.

“People ask me all the time, ‘If you could pick one reason why you won a gold medal in the Olympics what would it be?’ I always tell them, it's because I love swimming. I love to swim. I've always had a passion for being in the water. I’m more comfortable in the water than I am on land.”

In 1991, Gaines encountered a more serious setback when he was stricken with a potentially deadly neurological disorder called GuillainBarre Syndrome. Hospitalized for five weeks and paralyzed for nearly six months, he battled through a painful rehabilitation to return to the active lifestyle he loves.

“It wasn’t easy,” he says. “Doctors say the only reason I fully recovered is that I worked incredibly hard and was in great shape to begin with, thanks to swimming. That gave me an even greater passion for the sport.”

Within a year, Gaines was back in the Masters National Championships, setting multiple age-group world records. His comeback was so successful that at the age of 35, he became the oldest swimmer to qualify for the 1996 Olympic trials. He chose not to compete, instead covering the competition as a commentator for NBC Sports.

“I auditioned with Greg Gumbel,” he recalls. “I fumbled my words. I wasn’t even the most knowledgeable candidate, but I was the most passionate. Dick Ebersol (former NBC Sports president) told me that passion is what attracts viewers—and that’s what got me the job.”

It’s a job that he’s held for 22 years and counting. Tokyo 2020 will be Gaines’ eighth Olympics for NBC Sports and his seventh with broadcast partner Dan Hicks, making them the longest-running broadcast team in Olympic history.

In addition to his work as a broadcaster and a non-stop promoter of swimming, Gaines is vice president of aquatics for Central Florida YMCA and one of the world’s most passionate advocates for swimming lessons.

“It breaks my heart when I hear about a child drowning because I

know how unnecessary it is,” he says. “It’s a tragedy that we long ago found the cure for—swimming lessons.”

Swimming is not the only love, or even the greatest love, in Gaines’ life. He’s the ultimate family man, married to his wife, Jude, for 32 years. “I have to pinch myself sometimes,” he says. “My wife is my rock. I have four beautiful girls and three beautiful granddaughters.

I can't believe the blessings that have been bestowed upon my life.

It's too good to be true.”

So, what’s the Rowdy Gaines takeaway? What’s the moral to Hannah Storms’ new documentary film?

Says Gaines: “I guess it sounds a little cliché-ish, but you should never give up on your dreams. I’m living proof of that. You have to stay dedicated to your goal, whatever that goal might be. We’re all on a roller coaster ride through life—and we have to live through the valleys to get to the peaks.”

At 59, Gaines has more records to set, more people to inspire and more lives to save.

“If it all ended tomorrow I can definitely say that I've lived a good life,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind if my gravestone read, ‘Rowdy Gaines: swimmer, good father, good grandfather, good husband, good son, good friend and somebody that wants everybody to take swim lessons.’”

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TO MAXIMIZE, MINIMIZE Lighten the load of a lifetime

BY B I L L S H A FE R

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More is better. It’s a philosophy that we’ve all grown up with and have learned to accept. More stylish clothing, more expensive cars, more exotic trips.

But as we age, it becomes apparent that more is often worse. More trips to the buffet leave us heavier and less healthy. Materialism—the accumulation of stuff—is ultimately unfulfilling and is a trigger for a variety of stresses.

We love to save. We’re inherently collectors. By the time we get to midlife or beyond, our homes are so jam-packed with things we don’t need that just thinking about what to do with it all can be overwhelming.

In fact, that’s one of the most-cited reasons empty nesters hesitate to move. It’s just too much work.

But living in an environment of clutter has detrimental effects. Clutter creates stress, can be socially isolating and can make it difficult to get things done.

This has resulted in the growth of a lifestyle philosophy called “functional minimalism,” which requires that you take a more mindful approach to the things you save and the things you buy.

The crux of functional minimalism is this: Just have things that you truly value. Keep what matters to you, and get rid of the rest.

Ciji Ware, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, broadcaster, speaker and journalist, understands how liberating it can be to cut through the clutter.

She refers to herself as a recovering clutterbug, and her book, Rightsizing Your Life, offers tips on how to overcome the emotional attachments that can often stop the decluttering process in its tracks.

“There are many reasons why we hang on to so much stuff,” she says. “But what we need to understand is how good it can feel to unload the burden of dealing with so many unnecessary things.”

Ware believes clutter weighs us down, like a ball and chain. Going through our closets, drawers and garages and disposing of the excess offers the same benefits as going on a successful diet. We feel better, have more energy and a brighter outlook.

Although it may sound easy enough to do, in fact it isn’t. It can be overwhelming just figuring out where to begin. Ware recommends choosing an area that bothers you the most.

L I V I N G D I F F E R E N T LY

Are your dresser drawers so full that they’re difficult to open? Does your car sit in the driveway because the garage is full of stuff?

Once you choose an area, you need to be prepared to make some tough decisions. Ware says one way to stay on track and keep the process moving is to have two containers: one for trash, and another for items you’d like to consider further.

That way, instead of agonizing over whether to keep it or toss it, you can relegate it to the “not sure” pile and keep charging forward.

The crux of functional minimalism is this: Just have things that you truly value.

Keep what matters to you, and get rid of the rest.

Ware says clothes closets are the most difficult areas to declutter. She recommends inviting a friend over to go through them with you. Lean on your friend for objective opinions on what you should get rid of.

Rightsizing or minimizing isn’t just about deciding what to throw out. It’s about adopting a different way of looking at your lifestyle. It requires that you purposely decide what’s worth having, and why something is worth keeping.

It’s about asking yourself, what do I really need to be happy?

We probably should have realized long ago that what we were taught was wrong. More is not better. Having more simply does not lead to happiness or fulfillment.

But having less can.

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SOMEONE

LIKEME

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

Suddenly, the hottest division in track and field is women 100-104—thanks to the power of an example from “someone like me.” When Ella Mae saw what Ida did, and Julia saw what Ella Mae did, the record books were rewritten. It all started with Ida Keeling.

Keeling became despondent in her late 60s after both of her sons were murdered. Her daughter, fearing for her mother's mental health, forced her to get outside and walk with her. Their daily walk became a jog, and then a run. Running not only saved Keeling’s life, it soon defined it.

Just four days before her 101st birthday, Keeling lined up to compete at the famed Penn Relays in a special mixed-masters (men and women) 100-meter dash for runners 80-and-older.

With more than 40,000 spectators on their feet and a worldwide television audience tuning in, she set a new women’s world record in the 100-104 age group, finishing in 1 minute and 17.33 seconds.

“Thank God that I can still run,” the 4-foot-6-inch great-great-grandmother from New York City says. “I’m very happy to hear that I can inspire others. It makes me feel even greater than my height.”

The video of Keeling’s run went viral, and it didn’t take long for 100-year-old Ella Mae Colbert to learn about it. Colbert had never even considered running 100 meters but she was inspired by Keeling’s example.

“I’m very happy to hear that I can inspire others. It makes me feel even greater than my height.”

Within weeks of Keeling’s run, Colbert stepped onto the track behind Chesnee Middle School in South Carolina. A crowd of family, friends and a representative from Guinness World Records lined the track to cheer her on.

When the starter said, “Take your mark, go!” Colbert took two steps and did a faceplant, hitting the track and splitting her chin wide open. Certainly, everyone thought this 100-year-old was done for the day, if not forever.

Not even close.

MASTERS SPORTS

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E L L A M A E CO L B E R T

I DA K E E L I N G

Colbert asked to have her chin bandaged, and within minutes she was back on the starting line, ready to try again. This time she not only didn’t fall, she beat Keeling’s time by more than 30 seconds.

Afterwards she told the crowd: “You do not stop.

You’ll have some trials and you’ll have something that gets in your way, but you can’t let it get you down. You get up and you go again.”

Video of Colbert's run also went viral, and it didn't take long to reach 101-year-old Julia Hawkins in Louisiana. Hawkins took up running at age 100, and when she learned that the U.S. National Masters Track and Field National Championships would be held near her home, she figured, why not? If Colbert and Keeling did it, she should be able to as well.

Running in just her second meet ever, Hawkins not only established a new age-group world record, she became the oldest female competitor ever in USA Track and Field History.

This story of Keeling, Colbert and Hawkins is important because our belief systems control our 36

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Tim Kimzey/Spartanburg Herald-Journal/GoUpstate.com

behavior and, to a large degree, determine our future.

Tragically, most of us have extremely limiting beliefs when it comes to aging. Our challenge is made more difficult by the fact that we’re also battling social norms—which are even more powerful at shaping behavior than our beliefs.

Social norms are the unwritten rules about how we’re supposed to act. They’re the conformity police providing constant cues for “age-appropriate” behavior. You might believe that aging in a certain way is possible, but if that belief is contrary to social norms, you likely won’t act upon your belief.

This is why changing the way you age is extremely difficult. You not only must change your belief system in the face of the constant bombardment of ageist messaging, you must maintain and act upon those beliefs in violation of established societal and cultural norms.

Growing Bolder is about breaking social norms that are related to aging, because there’s no such thing as age-appropriate behavior.

J U L I A H AW K I N S

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What’s expected of older people? Who cares?

Remove those expectations from your mind.

Overcome the fear of being ridiculed. Stop looking for age-related cues about how to behave. John F. Kennedy said: “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”

Growing Bolder is about breaking social norms that are related to aging, because there’s no such thing as age-appropriate behavior.

The first step is removing your accepted limits of possibility. It’s well documented that when young children are told that they’re ignorant or don’t have the capacity to understand something, they quickly internalize that belief until it becomes reality—or

until a caring parent or teacher intervenes and helps them learn otherwise.

The same thing happens with older people, but it’s more severe because almost no one ever intervenes and convinces them that they’re capable of doing far more than our culture has decided is reasonable and appropriate.

It’s nearly impossible to imagine a future self outside of the accepted and deeply internalized boundaries of what’s possible. Tragically, those boundaries have been drawn, promoted and marketed by an ageist culture.

At Growing Bolder, we’ve learned the most effective way to change beliefs and behavior is through the relatable example of “someone like me.” Every one of us can read the results of important academic studies or the opinions of renowned experts—but it’s only when we can see ourselves in others that the magic of transformation truly occurs. The example of “someone like me” can create, change and inspire action when logic cannot.

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LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT JUST GROWING OLDER, YOU’RE GROWING BOLDER! Growing Bolder is a statement about life and how you live it.

Be among the very first to wear the new Growing Bolder logo.

To order a GB Tee for you and those you want to inspire visit: GrowingBolder.com/shop

Visit: GrowingBolder.com Subscribe: GrowingBolder.com/subscribe Follow: @GrowingBolder

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Comfort Food for Friends

BY TA R A G I D U S CO L L I N GWO O D, MS, RDN, CSSD

Food has the power to bring family, friends and acquaintances to the table. There is nothing like the simple pleasure of sharing a meal and connecting with our fellow human beings. Deciding what to cook for guests can be a daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. This flatbread makes a generous meal. Or, be inspired to impress your dinner guests and serve it as a fantastic starter.

Whether you’re making it for a crowd or a small, intimate affair, its savory and fresh flavors will bring your guests back to your table again and again.

Mushroom Flatbread and Arugula Salad Serves 2 Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 40 min Yield: 4 servings 1 cup whole mushrooms 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ lemon, juiced 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 2 8-inch whole wheat flatbreads 5 dried figs, sliced Zest and juice of ½ lemon 2 tablespoon grated parmigiano reggiano cheese Black pepper to taste 2 cups arugula Thick balsamic vinegar Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Blend mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, lemon, and salt in food processor until slightly chunky.

3. Spread mixture on flatbreads and top with figs. Bake for 12 minutes.

4. While flatbreads are baking, combine lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and black pepper. Toss with arugula.

5. Remove flatbreads from oven and top with arugula mixture. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Tara Gidus Collingwood is one of the most sought after nutrition experts in the country. Walt Disney World tapped her to help develop balanced children’s meals for restaurants throughout the popular resort; she worked with Tupperware to create containers for kids’ lunches to encourage healthy eating; and she counts the NBA’s Orlando Magic, the United States Tennis Association and the University of Central Florida Athletics department among her clients. She’s also the author of Pregnancy Cooking & Nutrition for Dummies and the co-author of Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies. Tara doesn’t just talk the talk; she walks the walk. A Boston Marathon-qualifying marathoner, she and her husband, John are passionate about incorporating fitness into the lives of their four children

FO O D & N U T R I T I O N

Calories per serving: 125 Fat: 6 g Saturated Fat: 1 g Cholesterol: 2 mg Sodium: 215 mg Carbohydrates: 17 g Fiber: 5 grams Protein: 7 grams

Note: This recipe first appeared in Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies

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5

HEALTH TRENDS

BY RO B E R T T H O M P S O N

At-Home Fitness Anyone who has ever had a gym membership knows how quickly the excuses for not going can pile up. Tight schedules, long workdays, car trouble—you name it.

However, with the rise in at-home fitness options, it may become more convenient than ever to get into that daily workout routine. Current popular workout trends ranging from Crossfit to Peloton group spin classes are offering innovative ways to keep you active without ever having to leave your home.

Visit GrowingBolder.com for a list of some of the most popular online fitness classes.

The Ketogenic Diet The ketogenic diet, the most- Googled nutrition-related term in 2017, has recently taken the world of nutrition by storm. This rising trend focuses on eliminating carbs and replacing them with dietary fats and moderate amounts of protein—all for the ultimate goal of switching the main form of energy the body uses from carbohydrates to fat.

While this approach may seem extreme, it has proven to be effective in fat loss, increased energy, mental clarity and overall satiety.

For a more in-depth look into all things keto, check out Mark Sisson’s Definitive Guide to Keto 40

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Mindfulness Mindfulness is creating mind-body connection that allows us to remain in the present moment without judgment. Practicing mindfulness on a regular basis has recently gained significant momentum as it touts benefits such as stress reduction, reduced rumination, greater focus and an overall healthier perspective.

Numerous companies have emerged to help people interested in starting this daily practice, and large corporations are working toward incorporating mindfulness training on a large scale with employees.

For a more in-depth look on how to start your own mindfulness practice check out mindful.org and make sure to read Deepak Chopra’s article in this issue (page 62).

Wearables The rise of wearable technology, such as watches and heart monitors, has made it more convenient than ever to monitor our health status and track our goals. By simply wearing a smart watch, we can now monitor our daily activity, heart rates, sleep cycles and more. But the possibilities don’t end there. This industry is on the rise, with plenty of new companies popping up with innovative technology to help us be our healthiest.

Visit GrowingBolder.com for a list of resources to learn more about each of these health trends.

Minimalism In our culture, we’re often made to believe the more things we have, the happier we’ll be. However, the rise of minimalism as a way of living is spreading the complete opposite message—it’s the ultimate in the “less is more” mentality. The driving thought is the less physical items we own, the more time and attention we can pay to the more meaningful non-physical aspects of our lives, such as family, relationships and spirituality.

Want to start shedding your extra stuff, too?

See our story on page 34 to learn more about the minimalism movement.

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The Reinvention Evangelist What Jane Pauley did when the phone stopped ringing.

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

“I kind of waited for the phone to ring. It always had.

It didn’t this time,” says Jane Pauley. “I knew I wasn’t retired. I was just 54, and expected to do more. But didn’t know what.“ It was a turning point for Pauley, the broadcasting legend whom opportunity had always seemed to find.

Often, her jobs and assignments were served up on a silver platter at NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s dinner parties. Even her husband of 35 years, renowned Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, was introduced to her at an arranged dinner hosted by Brokaw.

But now, for the first time since she was hired by WISH-TV in Indianapolis at the age of 21, Pauley was in unfamiliar territory. Suddenly and surprisingly, in her mid-50s, life stopped “just happening” for the woman once dubbed by the media as “America’s Sweetheart.”

“I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but it took four years of poking around to find something new,” Pauley recalls. “And I wasn’t just sitting on my sofa watching the Home Shopping Network. I was really working the problem. It took getting up and doing something, which inspired something else. And that, in turn, inspired the Your Life Calling series. I made it happen.”

Pauley’s proud of that fact, primarily because she’s not the type-A, obsessively driven personality that typically gravitates to the pace and power of 42

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network news. For most of her life, she admits, options were created for her, or offered to her. Her role was basically choosing which ones to accept.

“Part of my message these days is the importance of making something happen,” she says. “For much of our lives, certainly for most of my life, what I did— and even who I married—depended on who Tom Brokaw invited to dinner. But then we reach the age where we actually have to make things happen— especially when we get the heads-up that we might go on living quite a long time.”

Within seconds of meeting Pauley, it’s easy to understand why, for more than 30 years, she has been one of the brightest lights in broadcast news. She speaks from her heart in a halting, vulnerable, selfeffacing manner that’s both charming and engaging.

She has a quick wit and an obvious intellect that neither intimidates nor pontificates.

Most experts, thought leaders and broadcasters recite their messages and share their stories, as powerful as they may be, in nearly the same manner time and time again—in a scripted flow of talking points.

Pauley, despite her celebrity, is dramatically different. In conversation, it appears as though she’s sharing her thoughts for the first time. That’s a tremendously underappreciated skill for anyone with a message to share.

C O M E B AC K S

From 1976 to 1989, Pauley was co-host—first with Brokaw and later with Bryant Gumbel—of NBC’s Today. From 1980 to 1982, she also anchored the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News, establishing herself as a role model for female TV journalists.

After leaving Today amid very public speculation that she was being forced out in favor of Deborah Norville, a younger correspondent, Pauley hosted Real Life with Jane Pauley, a newsmagazine with a generally upbeat focus. The show—one of many attempts by NBC to compete in the newsmagazine genre—lasted only a season.

Pauley returned to NBC Nightly News as deputy anchor from 1990 to 1991, then joined another newsmagazine, Dateline NBC, as co-host with Stone Phillips. That show clicked with viewers, and Pauley remained from 1992–2003. Then, however, her once seemingly charmed career seemed to falter.

In 2004, Pauley hosted The Jane Pauley Show, a syndicated daytime talk show. But when it was cancelled after only eight months, Pauley began to think her days in broadcasting might have come to an end.

It was a professional crisis during which she realized that simply waiting for opportunity to come her way was no longer an option. She had to make something happen. So she spent hours—which stretched into four years—researching possibilities

In 1976, Pauley began co-hosting NBC's Today with Tom Brokaw. Many of her career opportunities—and even meeting her husband-to-be—happened as a result of dinner parties at Brokaw's home.

Part of my message these days is the importance of making something happen...

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and pitching proposals to television executives.

Eventually, her initiative began to reap professional dividends.

In 2009, Pauley led a half-hour discussion on PBS’s Depression: Out of the Shadows, and lent her name to the Jane Pauley Community Health Center.

Pauley had revealed her personal battle with bipolar disorder in Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue, her bestselling 2005 memoir.

The center, a collaboration between the Community Health Network and the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township, Indiana, offers services, regardless of insurance or income, with an emphasis on integrating medical, dental and behavioral health.

Also in 2009, Pauley returned to the Today show as a contributor to Your Life Calling, an AARP-funded monthly series in which she shared the stories of men and women creating new opportunities in middle age.

She used her new platform to write a second bestseller, Your Life Calling: Reimagining the Rest of Your Life.

In the process, Pauley reinvented herself—as a reinvention evangelist. The irony of that statement is not lost on her.

“Frankly I’m not a person who lives the message I espouse,” she says. “I’m not an adventure seeker. I’m not the most curious person you know. I’m really comfortable right here on this sofa. When it comes to the importance of creating change, of making things happen, I need to hear myself say it in order to live it.”

When Your Life Calling was cancelled after 4 years, Pauley’s phone did ring, and she was offered what she calls her “dream job” as a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning in 2014. She spent the next two years serving as a correspondent and substitute host for the show, before taking over the host’s seat in 2016 44

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when Charles Osgood retired.

When asked if she’s enjoying her latest job with what many consider to be the best news program on television, Pauley emits a spontaneous laugh, almost a squeal, of excitement.

“Oh, yes.” she says. “I hear all the time that it’s the best news program on TV. I’ve been there a couple of years, so I can’t take credit for that, but I do hear it a lot.”

Pauley notes that middle age is defined as no longer young, but not yet old. “Getting older is not the same as getting old, so middle age can last into your 70s or 80s.

We have to recalibrate how we define middle age and how we act. God knows, we look pretty good!”

She says she wouldn’t mind if her job with prestigious CBS Sunday Morning is her last. “And if it’s not,” she says, “I hope I have the imagination and the courage and the initiative to stay active, engaged, productive and creative. We all have opportunities that our parents and grandparents didn’t have, and I hope I don’t squander mine.”

Broadcasting is a better industry with Jane Pauley in it—and now that she’s learned the importance of taking action and the power of a single first step, her career won’t end until she wants it to.

“That first step, whether it’s volunteering, joining a club or something small like that, can lead you somewhere you couldn’t imagine,” says Pauley. “That first step can introduce you to incredibly rewarding opportunities. But unless you take it, nothing will happen.”

Pauley, now known as “America’s Baby Boomer,” adds: “Inspiration and opportunity are everywhere, but you have to be looking. That’s all it really takes. If you have your antennae up, if you’re paying attention, you’ll be available for an opportunity you might not have noticed before.”

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— 4 Big Issues — Stories That Matter — Resources for Life — Inspiration to Grow TO L E A R N M O R E A N D S U B S C R I B E V I S I T: G ROW I N G B O L D E R .CO M/S U B S C R I B E

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BY JAC K I E C AR LI N

The Food Network 46

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America fell in love with Valerie Bertinelli when she

starred as Barbara Cooper, the gorgeous girl-next-door on the hit CBS sitcom One Day at a Time, and more than 40 years later, she’s still a welcome guest in many viewers’ homes thanks to her growing cooking empire on the Food Network.

Bertinelli was just 15 years old when she landed the role that would introduce the world to her charms, her first major acting job, and she appeared in nearly every episode during One Day at a Time’s successful run, from 1975 to 1984.

She later starred in several made-for-tv movies and headlined two more sitcoms, Sydney and Café Americain. More recently, she co-starred with the legendary Betty White in TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland.

At age 20, when One Day at a Time was at the peak of its popularity, Bertinelli famously married rocker Eddie Van Halen. The pair would have a child, Wolfgang, now 27, and stay together for two decades before splitting in 2001.

Bertinelli says the marriage was doomed from the start due to cocaine addiction—his and hers. In the years following the high-profile breakup, she kicked drugs and remarried. Now in her 50’s she looks and feels better than ever.

She also sought to reclaim her health by losing weight, eventually dropping 50 pounds. She’d been using food as a drug for years, she realized.

In 2008 Bertinelli signed on as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, the nutrition and weight-loss company, and wrote a book, Losing it—And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. The following year she wrote a follow-up, Finding it—And Satisfying My Hunger For Life Without Opening the Fridge.

She even appeared on the cover of People Magazine—wearing a bikini for the first time in nearly 20 years—to celebrate her 49th birthday.

Although Bertinelli is no longer affiliated with Jenny Craig, she says she learned plenty during that partnership.

“I learned that I’m really good at taking off weight,” she tells Growing Bolder. “I’ve been at it for my entire life. It’s when it starts to creep back on that I get fearful. I start panicking, saying, ‘What am I going to do?

What are people going to think of me?’”

Through therapy and her own research, Bertinelli says she’s come to realize a truth about addicts: They’re often locked in a vicious cycle of beating themselves up and then reaching for things that aren’t healthy to cope. She admits that she still struggles to avoid falling back into old habits.

The actress’s public battle with weight gain is why it came as a surprise to her fans when she announced her latest venture in 2015: hosting a cooking show on The Food Network.

She laughingly acknowledges that a Food Network gig may not seem like a great idea for someone with an admitted food addiction. But she says working on Valerie’s Home Cooking has helped her remember a time when her love for food was healthy.

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“The way I grew up, food was love,” she says. “It was how you showed that you love each other. But it was a healthy love, not ‘eat until it hurts you.’

Unfortunately, as the years went on, I would lose track of that. I started overstuffing myself or eating snacks that aren’t good for you.”

On her show, Bertinelli gets to demonstrate some of her favorite family recipes—sometimes with assistance from her husband, Tom Vitale, and her son, Wolfgang, whom she calls “Wolfie.” Even famous friends drop by, including White.

healthy weight is staying busy. When she’s not working, she does whatever she can to avoid getting bored.

“I now do crossword puzzles every morning.” she says, “I love to read. I knit. I started coloring in those adult coloring books. I’m always searching for new things to experience, learn and try.”

Many celebrities try to give off a cool, self-assured vibe. But talking to Bertinelli feels like talking to Barbara Cooper, her sitcom character. She’s charming, self-effacing and quick to acknowledge her fears and insecurities. She’s also endearingly determined to do

We’re here to be kind to one another. It’s so much easier to spread the light than it is to spread the darkness.

“This is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked because it’s just me up there, talking and cooking at the same time,” she says. “But it’s also the most fun I’ve ever had.”

And that joy is clearly connecting with viewers.

That’s why Food Network tapped Bertinelli to co-host other top shows on the channel, including Kids Baking Championship with cake artist Duff Goldman, and Food Network Star: Comeback Kitchen with celebrity chef Tyler Florence.

Bertinelli hopes to inspire others who’ve fought weight problems—and to help them realize that food doesn’t have to be the enemy.

“It’s all about trying to find that balance,” she says. “All the things I really love to cook and eat aren’t bad for you, if they’re taken in moderation. Nothing is really bad for you if you take it in moderation.”

Another key to Bertinelli’s success at maintaining a

her part to make the world a little brighter.

“I love Growing Bolder and what it represents,” she says. “It’s such a lovely idea to put out into the world. Even at this age, when I think I have it all together, it still makes me cry when I think of the fears we’re all still carrying around. I know I can only speak for myself, but I want to take fear out of my life because then love can shine through.”

Bertinelli even has an assignment for you. Next time you’re walking down the street or through the grocery store, try smiling at strangers instead of glowering at them because they’re in your way. When they smile back, she says, “it’s going to give you an amazing feeling.”

“We’re here to be kind to one another. It’s so much easier to spread the light than it is to spread the darkness. There’s enough darkness out there; we need the light.”

Bertinelli's TV career has featured two close ensemble casts. When she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her Hot in Cleveland co-stars Betty White, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves cheered her on. In the 1970s and '80s, Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips and Bertinelli became one of America's favorite TV families through the hit sitcom One Day at a Time. Photo (left) by Angela George.

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R E S TAU R A N T R E V I E W

BOKA Chicago

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

Courtesy of BOKA

The Growing Bolder staff is fond of eating—and as we travel, we’re always in pursuit of a great meal. Great meals can be served up at all kinds of places: littleknown local diners, the hottest food trucks in town or the award-winning restaurants of celebrity chefs.

Not long ago, while attending a conference in downtown Chicago, we had the opportunity to dine at BOKA, a contemporary American hotspot nominated for four James Beard Foundation Awards this year alone.

BOKA is not one of those well-kept secrets that you just happen to wander into and get blown away.

BOKA will blow you away, but its reputation is well known and reserving a table can take some time.

Fortunately, we were invited to tag along with a couple whom we met at the conference—big-time foodies who made the reservation months in advance.

Tucked away in the trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood, BOKA’s vibe is sophisticated but friendly.

Our companions had heard about the renowned ninecourse tasting menu, which varies according to the whim of chef Lee Wolen. And that’s the way it should be. No one told Van Gogh how to paint Starry Night.

Wolen was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef in 2016 and 2017 and under his guidance, BOKA FO O D & N U T R I T I O N

Courtesy of BOKA

has maintained a Michelin Star for five consecutive years.

We probably should have gone with the tasting menu, because we ended up ordering two entrees and one of every hot and cold appetizer on the menu. Literally.

If you savor the flavor of fine food, BOKA is a can’t miss. Its menu is ambitious and innovative and the execution is flawless—one taste bombshell after another, all true culinary works of art.

Among our many shared dishes: braised Spanish octopus, marinated fluke with uni, roast chicken, tagliatelle, scallop crudo, beef tartare, marinated yellowtail, asparagus soup and foie gras.

BOKA has a killer wine list, and while we stuck with the vino, the drink menu appears to be as innovative as the food menu. BOKA’s staff is highly trained, knowledgeable, friendly and totally unpretentious.

BOKA is all about the customer experience—and delivers a memorable meal on all accounts.

BOKA

Contemporary American 1729 N. Halsted St. Chicago, Ill. bokachicago.com Reservations: Strongly recommended.

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LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE

BY JAC K I E C A R L I N

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Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Our nation is eating itself to death. Obesity can lead to

many life-threatening diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. It can also have significant impact on overall health and wellbeing by worsening such issues as sleep apnea, mental health and body pain.

Knowing what to eat can also be confusing. Will eggs really raise your cholesterol? How much meat is too much meat? Is it safe to eat romaine lettuce?

Complicating matters, the $70 billion diet industry constantly tempts you with the latest fad diets, products and miracle pills. It can be enough to confuse even the savviest of consumers.

What if you could turn to the one person you trust the most when it comes to your health for food answers? What if that person could write you a prescription for healthy eating? In the not-so-distant future, that’s exactly what could happen.

There’s a growing trend across the nation called “culinary medicine.”

And it may not only change the way you eat, it just may save your life.

Culinary medicine is defined as “an evidence-based specialty that blends the art of food with the science of medicine.” The goal isn’t to take away your favorite foods; it’s to teach you healthy, simple, sustainable everyday habits to nourish you and your family while taking your specific health issues into consideration.

For example, did you know certain diets have been proven to be just as effective—and in some cases more effective—than medication for specific medical conditions?

According to the National Institutes of Health, an anti-inflammatory diet can be effective in combating rheumatoid arthritis, and a Mediterranean diet can positively affect the health of those living with cardiovascular disease, advanced colon cancer and type 2 diabetes.

In other words, food is medicine.

“A lot of nutrition messages are so negative,” says Jacquelyn Nyenhuis, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. “We try to turn that around in culinary medicine to make it into something really positive.

We’re sharing the great news that you can improve your health just by eating at home.”

The UCF College of Medicine is one of 40 medical schools across the U.S. now incorporating culinary medicine into its curriculum. First launched at Tulane University in 2012, the program’s goal is to teach future doctors the importance of educating their patients about the lifesaving benefits of healthy eating.

Nyenhuis—who’s also a registered dietitian/nutritionist, diabetes educator, co-author of a college textbook, and blogger at her site, Cooking With Jacque—says physicians aren’t just reading nutritional theories.

They’re getting into the kitchen and learning recipes. This approach FO O D & N U T R I T I O N

allows them to communicate more effectively with patients about how to adopt healthy eating habits.

“Physicians learn evidencebased nutrition,” says Nyenhuis.

“Then they take those skills out into the community to share how nutrition will reduce chronic disease risk, enhance health and maintain wellness.”

The results can be immediate.

For example, she says, when people learn to include probiotics in their diets, digestive issues improve almost immediately. And research has shown that a sustained, healthy diet can reverse coronary heart disease.

For generations, you’ve been told what not to eat. But the beauty of culinary medicine is that it shines the spotlight on the healing, life-enhancing benefits of food.

What can you do to begin your own culinary medicine journey?

Stop eating out and get into the kitchen. Nyenhuis says half the population now suffers from “culinary deficit disorder.” That means they lack cooking skills.

In generations past, such skills were handed down from generation to generation. But with the prevalence of fast food and convenience foods, our time in the kitchen is dwindling—no matter how many cooking shows we all seem to be watching.

Nyenhuis suggests tapping into the wisdom of those in your circle who love to cook. Start simply, get good at meal planning and soon, you’ll be whipping up one healthy meal after another.

Bon appetit!

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BY L E S L E Y S TA H L

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I don’t just like being a grandparent; as my granddaughter would say, I love it. After thinking those days were over, I have fallen madly in love with my granddaughters. And I’m not alone.

For my book, Becoming Grandma, I interviewed grandparents around the world, and discovered that we all fall deeply, emotionally, joyously, helplessly in love.

Because these feelings are so universal, I suspected something deep within us, perhaps something biochemical, happens when we become grandparents.

My hunch was right. I discovered that when we hold our grandchildren, we start secreting what experts call a bonding hormone, which rewires our brains. And strangely—and amusingly—one of the things that happens is our ability to say the word “no” is disabled!

In the process, we all, automatically, turn into these indulgent mushballs. We may have been strict parents, but boy, we’re such pushovers with these grandkids. Amongst ourselves, all grandparents joke, “What happened to us?”

These feelings aren’t exclusive to biological grandparents. If step-grandparents or surrogate grandparents are in the picture when the grandchild is born, they feel the exact same connection and feelings of falling of love as the rest of us.

The title of my book may say “Grandma,” but I also know many grandfathers, including my husband, who experience these same feelings of love and devotion.

Sadly, not every grandparent gets to experience these relationships. During my interviews for the book, I heard heart-breaking stories of the many grandparents who never see their grandchildren— because they’re not allowed to, or their visits are rationed. It hurt me to hear these stories.

Thankfully, for the vast majority of us, we’re so transformed by these kids that there’s a huge trend going on. After retiring, more and more people are E S S AY S

picking up, selling the homes they’ve lived in for decades and moving to wherever their grandchildren are so that they can be in their lives.

There’s no question that technology is a gamechanger for grandparents. I live across the country from my grandchildren, but I am still in their lives in a very visual way.

Little kids have trouble communicating over the phone, but with new video technologies like FaceTime and Skype, you can hold face-to-face connections.

And, if your own kids are patient enough, they can turn their phones or computers around and let you watch the grandkids playing.

As they’ve done with so many things, Baby Boomers are reinventing grandparenthood. We’re relatively young grandparents, and we’re a little more involved with taking care of the grandkids. We do more active things, like take the kids to the park. It’s funny; I used to hate doing that with my own kids, but for some reason, I don’t mind at all with my grandkids!

Our generation is also spending much more money on grandchildren. In fact, we spend seven times more today than grandparents of just 10 years ago spent.

And we’re not just buying toys and clothes. Many grandparents are picking up big-ticket items, including things like the crib, car seats, medical bills, education, braces and so much more.

People say all the time that it’s the best thing in the world to be a grandparent. But you can’t fully understand the depths of those feelings until it happens to you. For the vast majority of us, we’re fundamentally transformed in the best possible ways.

Lesley Stahl is one of America’s most respected broadcast journalists.

Her work on 60 Minutes has been honored with 11 Emmy Awards.

Stahl was the CBS White House correspondent during the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan and George H.W. Bush and moderator of Face the Nation for nearly a decade. She’s the author of two books including here most recent Becoming Grandma in which she chronicles the joy of grandparenting.

Photo by Dave Lauridsen

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SAY

BY W E N DY C H I OJ I

I hesitate to start with a bummer of a story, but this one is as impactful as anything I could share right now. And if my friend Stuart’s story doesn’t get across the message that you need to do it, to go there, to try, to expand and to grow—then nothing will.

I met Stuart a while ago at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center. We were both in clinical trials for our recurrent thymic cancer. During the following months, he left his trial and was looking for a new one.

He never seemed to get down when he was rebuffed for various medical reasons that may or may not have had anything to do with his cancer. Last month, for example, he tried to get into one more trial I’d told him about. He was rejected because of wonky liver function.

He messaged that to me, then wrote about hospice and making things as easy as possible for his family.

What?

One week we’re looking for a CAR-T cell trial for him, and the next, he’s talking about death? But as cancer patients do on this issue, he knew what he was talking about. Stuart died just over a week later.

Since then, his Facebook page has been filled with photos of him with family and lifelong friends, who are sharing snapshots of his extraordinary, love-filled life.

Stuart fought hard to live longer than the timetable cancer gave him, and he succeeded. But many, many people—myself included—wish he was still on the battlefield.

Usually, if we’re honest, we’ll admit that it takes a catastrophic event or diagnosis to remind us that we need to squeeze every ounce of delight out of every day. Until that happens, we can fill our weeks with busy-ness.

We spread ourselves super thin, we spend time with people who suck our energy and we put off doing things we really want to—thinking that there’s always next year or the one after that.

Before my first cancer diagnosis (breast, stage II) in 2001, I was like that. l was an evening news anchor, but besides doing my shows, I would make a dozen public appearances or more a month.

I was also training for triathlons with friends who didn’t work until midnight, and therefore weren’t swimming, running or riding on just a couple of hours of sleep. I indulged my passion for travel, but trips were shoehorned into the sardine can that was my life.

That cancer diagnosis shook things up a bit. But after treatment, I found focus. Instead of the frenetic shotgun lifestyle I’d perfected, I put my energy toward supporting cancer survivorship and truly appreciating the second chance that too many people don’t get.

I felt, for the first time, that I was finally making a difference, both for other cancer patients and for myself.

In 2008, with the insight that comes from a brush with potential death, I decided it was time to say “yes” to a major life shift. I was no longer psyched about working in local news.

Changes in my station and company, on top of a general downward spiral in the quality of TV news in general, prompted me to turn in my chips and get out of the TV business. I moved to Park City, Utah, and haven’t regretted a single day.

Wendy Chioji has always found strength and purpose through fitness. She lives in Park City, Utah, where she spends most of her time outdoors, skiing, running, hiking and riding bikes. She's also completed 5 Ironman distance triathlons (including the Kona World Championship), dozens of half-Ironman distance races, and many, many shorter races of every kind.

P E R S O N A L T R A N S FO R M AT I O N

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“

TAKE A CHANCE. PUSH YOUR BOUNDARIES. JUST SAY YES.

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“

But in 2013, my yearly breast MRI scan showed something ominous. It was a tumor on my thymus— which I’d never even heard of before. Surgery, lowdose chemo and radiation worked for a year. But the cancer came back in my heart and lung lining.

Now, there was no standard of care. My oncologist sent me off on my own, to find a clinical trial. With the help of an angel who was a total stranger—proof that you can make things happen if you throw it out there in the universe—I was accepted into a clinical trial at the NIH in Bethesda. I’m now in my fourth clinical trial and, for now, am doing great with some side effects that keep me grounded.

Eventually, this complicated two-drug trial that requires me to fly back to Maryland every 11 days will stop working. I know this. I’m always looking for the next trial, because my cancer isn’t going away.

This situation causes me no anxiety. I’m a journalist at heart, and know how to intensely research a story—especially when the story is me.

And I’m not going to waste time worrying. It’s a waste.

And who knows how much of time any of us has?

So, since 2014, I’ve embraced life like a spider monkey. My reflexive answer to invitations that could lead to adventures is “yes!” That’s followed by

planning to see if I can make these adventures happen.

In the last couple of years, that has led to sailing a 66-foot boat to the Antarctic, a powerful and fun yoga retreat in Maui and much more.

I also find that this quest for cool experiences, facilitated only by saying yes, is contagious. Other people will start saying yes, too. That is why I’m writing this while on a plane headed to the Arctic Circle to see polar bears.

It doesn’t have to be travel, if that’s not your obsession. “Just say yes” is a mantra that’s applicable every day, all day. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss an opportunity to expand my horizons. I expect I’ll have less time to do that than many people —so again, like the spider monkey, I embrace it all.

To me, saying “no” is closing a door before you get a chance to look at what’s on the other side. It could be the start of a monumental, life-changing experience.

Or it could just be a friend with a bottle of wine or a pint of stracciatella gelato. Either way, saying no before you know is an opportunity loser.

Life is too short for most of us, and getting to the end of it, whenever that is, shouldn’t be a time to regret not saying yes more often. Take a chance. Push your boundaries. Just say yes.

Growing Bolder, the book, reveals how an ageist culture is leading us to fear what can be the best days of our lives.

Change your belief system about aging and change the trajectory of your future.

To reserve your copy of Marc Middleton’s ground-breaking new book Growing Bolder, Defying the Insidious Cult of Youth visit GrowingBolder.com/shop

Visit: GrowingBolder.com Subscribe: GrowingBolder.com/subscribe Follow: @GrowingBolder

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HITCHING A RIDE ON THE COSMOS

BY D E E PA K C H O PR A , M . D. , M E N A S K A FATO S , Ph . D. 60

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Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

The universe and the human brain have something important in common. The inner workings of both are invisible. At this moment you have no perception

of what’s happening in your brain; neural activity is unknown to the mind of the person to whom the neurons belong without the invention of brain scans to reveal that activity, and then only crudely. Imagine, being a master of a house and not knowing or seeing what is inside the house.

At first blush the universe doesn’t appear to be that way, tens to hundreds of billions of stars in as many as two trillion galaxies, although not directly observable with the naked eye can be studied with big telescopes such as the Hubble space telescope. But no matter how finely you dissect physical objects, whether the object is a drop of water or a massive nebula, in reality the inner workings of objects are totally invisible. The phrase used by physicists is “something out of nothing,” which refers to the fact that ground zero for creation is a void, the quantum vacuum.

On that basis, both the brain and a star and an atom are examples of something coming out of nothing.

In our book You Are the Universe, we explore what might be emerging besides physical objects and the energy states they occupy. For it’s obvious that the brain doesn’t simply produce electrical and chemical activity at random. It somehow is tied to our inner world of sensations, thoughts, feelings, and images. Using these, we experience a three-dimensional world. So everything in that world is dependent on experience; if there is a reality outside what we can experience (including the extended perception of microscopes, telescopes, particle accelerators, and so on), such a reality will be as inaccessible as a dark hole.

By asserting, on the contrary, that the physical universe is a thing “out there,” independent of human existence, the vast majority of physicists are relying on common sense when common sense is wrong, just as it is wrong when we fall for the illusion that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. For starters, what we take for granted as an external reality is actually the result of a sensory system, that is species-specific, in this case the human species. Our eyes do not see everything, they are limited by human sensory boundaries. In our book, we demolish this common-sense assumption and replace it with something far more valuable to human beings. By examining what the cosmos is actually doing, we find that the parallels between our brain and the invisible reality of the universe are remarkable.

— The brain and the cosmos both evolve.

— They are both self-organizing and self-sustaining.

— They correlate distant events without any seeming connection, which physics calls spooky action at a distance.

— They balance life and death with a pronounced tendency for creation over destruction, order over disorder.

— They are in total agreement about time, space, matter, and energy, meaning that the brain-cosmos fit is perfect.

For these reasons, it is quite reasonable to see the brain and the universe as equally the product of consciousness, the product of conscious experience. There is no evidence of thinking in the brain or in the physical objects “out there.” But because the brain displays activity that correlates with thinking, lighting up in specific areas according to what the mind is thinking, feeling, sensing, and so on, we infer consciousness to exist, and the same method, G R OW I N G B O L D E R / VO L . 3 4

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looking at cosmic activity to infer consciousness, holds good there, too. In fact, the notion that the human brain is the highest evolved object in creation has it exactly upside down—human evolution has been hitching a ride on the cosmos, taking advantage of its evolutionary force and its conscious activity in general.

For a long time, there has been an unsettled argument about whether matter gave rise to mind or mind gave rise to matter. The “matter first” position is scientific but has no proof on its side, because there is never a point where one can witness or measure atoms and molecules beginning to think. In fact, to say that the potassium and sodium ions passing back and forth through the cell membrane of a neuron—the activity that gives rise to a brain cell’s electrical charge—are “thinking” is obviously untrue. There is more evidence to uphold the “mind first” position held by idealist philosophers since Plato, because when we think and feel, brain chemistry changes. New molecules, such as the hormones triggered by the stress response, come into being according to our perception of stress.

Yet if we really want to know what the brain is doing as well as the cosmos, neither “matter first” or “mind first” is adequate. Both are needed as complementary aspects of the one reality. The universe is one thing acting as a whole, and so is the brain. For example, two particles in space separated by light years act in tandem, instantaneously changing together. But on a vastly smaller scale, different areas of the brain instantly correlate without sending signals between distant neurons. If you see your mother’s face in your mind’s eye, remember that you need to call her, and feel a burst of affection at the same time, three separate regions of the brain are instantly correlating. It’s not that one thing—the face, the reminder, and the emotion—came up first and told the others what to do.

It’s hard for mainstream science to accept, or even begin to credit, that consciousness pervades everything, much less that the universe, the brain, and everything else simply is consciousness. Locked in our preconceptions, we follow invalid assumptions that raise walls of separation for no better reason than convenience. What has been called “cosmic censorship”—the reality of how the inner workings of the universe remain hidden, such as what exists at the center of a black hole—holds true for the brain and its hidden workings. Physicists like to tell themselves that stars are real while the inner life of subjectivity is only inferred. The reality is that both are inferred, and until we accept that consciousness is basic to everything, we will be hitching a ride on the universe without knowing what the ride is all about.

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Deepak Chopra M.D., FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Clinical Professor UCSD Medical School, researcher, Neurology and Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The World Post and The Huffington Post global internet survey ranked Chopra #17 influential thinker in the world and #1 in Medicine. Chopra is the author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His latest books are You Are the Universe co-authored with Menas Kafatos, PhD, and Quantum Healing (Revised and Updated): Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. Photo: Jeremiah Sullivan Menas C. Kafatos, P.h.D. is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics, at Chapman University. He is a quantum physicist, cosmologist, and climate impacts researcher and works extensively on consciousness. He holds seminars and workshops for individuals, health and mental professionals, practitioners of contemplative traditions, and corporations on the natural laws that apply everywhere and are the foundations of the universe, for well-being and success. His doctoral thesis advisor was the renowned M.I.T. professor Philip Morrison who studied under J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has authored 315+ articles, is author or editor of 16 books, including The Conscious Universe (Springer), Looking In, Seeing Out (Theosophical Publishing House), and is co-author with Deepak Chopra of You Are the Universe (Harmony). You can learn more at menaskafatos.com

Jettison Perfection!

Start Appreciating Your Progress, Not Your Shortcomings

BY J I L L I A N M I C H A E L S

Whether we’re just sitting on the couch or out there running marathons, one thing I’ve learned is that we all wish we were doing better. We have a dangerous obsession with perfection. It’s dangerous because it can be motivating—or it can seem so unattainable that it becomes debilitating. We need to jettison this concept of perfection and focus our appreciation on progress.

Do you know how often people are surprised to learn that when I was 12 years old, I weighed 170 pounds? If I thought I had to look the way I do today, I would have completely given up.

It’s a mistake to focus on either extreme. Instead, the pathway to success is the area in between. It’s all about progress. I’m still far from perfect and that’s why I’ve always been so open about my struggles.

I want everyone to know that it’s inherently human to struggle and to make mistakes; to have setbacks and to struggle to overcome them.

But if you’re looking at the finish line, you’ll never get there. It’s the same reason marathons are so popular. Nobody can just go out and run 26 miles. You start by struggling just to do a few.

FUNC TIONAL FITNESS

You celebrate your progress. And after making small but important improvements, at some point you realize you’re ready. It’s that pathway through progress that gives us that sense of pride, accomplishment and self-worth.

I believe a big part of my success is my personal transparency. My life is an open book. I am not ashamed of my many flaws. I might not be proud of them, but I understand that we all have flaws. The only way to improve them is to accept them. I believe if you see how much I struggle and mess up in my life, it’ll help you realize that you’re probably doing better than you think.

Search yourself to find your true motivation for change. Once you find it, you’re ready for action. Don’t expect to always succeed—just commit to keep trying.

Like I said, jettison the concept of perfection and learn to appreciate progress. That’s how I turned my life around. You can, too.

Jillian Michaels is one of the most successful health and fitness experts of all time. She spent years coaching contestants on the hit TV show, The Biggest Loser. She has also written several best-selling books, released wildly successful exercise DVDs and programs, including the award-winning My Fitness by Jillian Michaels app, and hosts her own weekly podcast.

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STYLE AT ANY AGE

BY JAC K I E C A R L I N 64

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It’s no secret that the fashion industry worships at the altar of youth. Even as executives, designers and magazine editors get older, the models, muses and celebrity spokespeople get younger.

In fact, some of the hottest faces in fashion these days are the youthful offspring of former fashionmagazine icons such as Cindy Crawford, Christie Brinkley and David and Victoria Beckham.

Where have all the fashionable mature women gone? They’ve taken to the streets.

After graduating from college in Seattle, Ari Seth Cohen felt drawn to New York City. He’d grown up listening to stories that his grandmother, a Columbia University graduate, told him about her exciting and culture-packed days in the Big Apple. So, after her death, he moved there.

As he walked the streets of his new home, he was struck by what he saw: gorgeous older women flaunting their flair for fashion and over-the-top styles. He couldn’t help but think of his grandmother.

He borrowed a friend’s camera and started snapping pictures with no real idea of what he’d do with them. He just was dumbstruck that no one else seemed to be paying attention to this treasure trove of amazing women—and men, too.

“I started noticing all these incredibly dressed, creative and vital older people in the city,” Cohen says. “I started to wonder why our ‘role models’ in the media, in fashion and in general are all younger. I wondered why people like Mimi Weddell and these ladies I was meeting on the street weren’t being ST YLE

featured. They were experienced. They were wise.

They were cultured. They were gorgeous. Why were older people so invisible?”

New York is the media capital of the world. It’s bursting at the seams with photographers, producers and wannabe starmakers. Yet, Cohen, with no photography or media experience and using a borrowed camera, quietly started taking pictures of older people—mostly women, some men.

“Once I’d collected a few hundred photos, I realized that they really had the power to change people’s perspective on aging,” he says.

They were experienced. They were wise. They were cultured. They were gorgeous. Why were older people so invisible?

So Cohen did something decidedly modern. He started uploading the photos to his blog, Advanced Style, along with short blurbs about each subject.

The blog exploded. People across the world started sharing the images. And, before he knew it, Cohen was helping to change the conversation about what aging is “supposed” to look like.

“Early on, I started to hear from young girls that they no longer feared aging,” he says. “That was one of the main reasons I kept going with this project in its early days. These girls were telling me that they G R OW I N G B O L D E R / VO L . 3 4

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couldn’t wait to be like these women, and they couldn’t wait to be old.”

Cohen found the response surprising. “The fact that these images could have so much power to influence people to not fear aging was wonderful feedback,” he continues. “Then older women started emailing me to say that they all of a sudden felt permission to start dressing up again. They no longer felt invisible.”

From the start, the project was very personal to Cohen. It was a way to pay tribute to two women who shaped the man he’d become.

“Growing up, both of my grandmothers were my best friends,” he recalls. “I wanted to be old because they were having so much fun. They were creative.

They did what they wanted. They taught me about fashion, culture and how to be a good person.”

Consequently, Cohen says, he never thought of aging as anything negative: “I admired [my grandmothers] so much and listened to everything they said. They allowed me to question life. They allowed me to be creative. They allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do. They were just wonderful.”

A best-selling book, a coloring book and a critically acclaimed documentary, all under the

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Advanced Style brand, quickly followed. A couple years later came Advanced Style: Older and Wiser, which took Cohen around the world, highlighting fashionable women and men in cities like Amsterdam, Geneva and Tokyo. Now, the young man who’d started out dabbling in street photography is internationally celebrated and even embraced in the fashion industry.

“It’s really an exciting time,” Cohen says. “Lately, more and more beauty companies have been choosing older actresses and models as the faces of campaigns.”

For example, last year, former iconic model and actress Lauren Hutton signed on to model lingerie for Calvin Klein at the age of 73. For the past several years, L’Oreal Paris has featured 73-year-old Helen Mirren in its campaigns and five years ago, designer Marc Jacobs made the then-64-year-old Jessica Lange the face of his brand. But while Cohen is pleased to see older people featured in advertising campaigns, he thinks there are larger aging-related issues to tackle.

“I think it’s wonderful that the fashion industry is starting to finally wake up to the fact that there’s this huge demographic of people who want to be reached out to, and who have the means to shop.” he says. “But that’s only one part of what needs to be done to shape our view of older people and how they’re treated.”

I admired [my grandmothers] so much and listened to everything they said. They allowed me to question life. They allowed me to be creative. They allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do.

They were just wonderful.

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“

...FASHION WAS JUST A VISUAL ENTRY POINT INTO CREATING A CONVERSATION ABOUT AGING

Photography from Advanced Style: Older & Wiser by Ari Seth Cohen, published by powerHouse Books 68

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Cohen’s project has also given some of his subjects new lives. He travels the world giving talks to groups of older women and is often joined by Joyce Carpati, who’s 86 and proud of it.

“We encourage these women to embrace the joys of life, and to live life boldly,” Carpati says.

“Afterwards, they’re just so happy and are starting to look at life differently. They’re ready to go out there, face the world and say, ‘OK, look at me. I’m here.’”

Cohen’s photos aren’t just about style; they reveal a zest for life and a flair for creativity and bold playfulness that many don’t associate with older people.

“For me, fashion was just a visual entry point into creating a conversation about aging.” he says. “The most important things to learn from these women are their stories. Dressing up is just a sign of their vitality.

When you look at my photos, I really think you see their true essence shining through,” he notes. “You see their spirit, their confidence, their energy and passion for life. Whatever it is they’ve done their whole lives, they’re continuing to do. I’m showing that just because you turn 80, 90 or 100 doesn’t mean that you lose your will to create and to be the person you’ve always been.”

“You just need those opportunities to continue, and you need a community around you that supports you, no matter what age you are.”

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PODCASTS: ENTERTAINMENT IN YOUR HEAD OR ON THE GO

BY B O B BY W E S L E Y

They entertain, inspire, inform and captivate. They’re in your ear, in your car and on the elliptical fly by.

They’re podcasts, and they’re everywhere. Indeed.

Podcasts are one of the fastest growing (and free!) forms of entertainment—with 67 million regular U.S. listeners each month.

So, what are podcasts? Simply put, podcasts are audio content you download on your phone or stream online. From DIY-style shows and interviews to ambitious, polished productions, podcasts have compelling content for news junkies, sports nuts, foodies and comedy nerds.

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If you’re into it, chances are there’s a podcast.

But what makes podcasts tick? For most, it’s the intimacy podcasts offer that keeps listeners coming back for more. With long-form audio, people open up, experts nerd-out, stories unfold and walls come down.

It’s a return to a different era of conversation and storytelling that can be moving, heartfelt and often hilarious.

Try a few out. Check iTunes, Google Play or streaming services like Stitcher or Spotify for top podcasts. Go to GrowingBolder.com for more on podcasts and how to start downloading and listening now.

Popular for a Reason

Storytelling

Top rated downloads on iTunes and Google Play have usually been around for a while, with large fan bases and larger banks of archived episodes to dig through.

From highly personal short stories to thrillingly addictive pieces that unfold over entire seasons, captivating audio storytellers will make you feel like you’re there.

THIS AMERICAN LIFE An NPR staple with some of the most compelling storytelling in the game.

THE MOTH The gold standard in personal storytelling, hear personal tales ranging from the humorous to the heartbreaking from everyday people.

WTF WITH MARC MARON Famously raw, intense and hilarious interviews with comics, musicians and entertainers (and a sitting U.S. President!) make “Maron” one of the godfathers of podcasting.

SERIAL The most binge-listened podcast of all time, the revisited story of a 1999 murder trial was so compelling the case was later reopened.

WELCOME TO THE NIGHT VALE This longform series is part science fiction, part creepy horror, part odd humor, and all compelling from its first episode.

THE TRUTH Presented as “movies for your ears,” The Truth provides bite-sized fictional stories that rethink audio drama from producers with real radio pedigrees.

Fact Check Yourself

Listen and Learn

Turn off talk radio and for goodness' sake don’t get your news from social media. Instead, find insights from smart, savvy pundits with measured perspectives on the news of the day.

Open your mind, nerd out or simply never stop learning with investigations into moments, topics or ideas—big and small—that shaped our world.

ON THE LEFT: POD SAVE AMERICA Both sharp and snarky, these former Obama staffers (led by speechwriter Jon Favreau) offer thoughtful hot takes, interviews and activism outlets for the resistance.

FROM THE RIGHT: THE REMNANT WITH JONAH GOLDBERG The senior editor of National Review, Goldberg brings his blend of pragmatism and humor to head-nodding discussions of daily politics and culture.

FIVETHIRTYEIGHT PODCAST The original political prognosticators and numbers geeks talk news of the day by the numbers and what they tell us about the never-ending horserace.

REVISIONIST HISTORY Hosted by Malcolm Gladwell, this HOF pod explores themes from the past with a critical eye and the masterfully researched storytelling you’d expect from the Outliers genius.

OLOGIES Emmy Award-winning science correspondent Alie Ward dives deep on what drives the passions of scholars and obsessives in this comedic science podcast.

RADIOLAB A public radio crossover bringing together curiosity, interviews and humor across a wide range of topics with fantastically produced storytelling.

Growing Bolder And Of Course...

Check out the GB podcast, filled with great interviews and inspirational stories from people just like you. Find it on the NPR One app, or wherever you download podcasts.

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WHO ARE YOU CALLING “OLD?”

Living in Prime Time!

BY VO N DA W R I G H T, M . D.

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Healthy, vital, active, thriving! These aren’t words commonly ascribed to aging, and yet an entire generation of healthy, vital, active and thriving people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are changing the very paradigm of aging in this country.

A familiar adage says, “The future belongs to the young.” It’s true. I contend to you, not only as a surgeon who specializes in the care of athletes and adult-onset exercisers over the age of 40, but as one of their number living in the prime of life, that the future does indeed belong to the young—and the definition of “young” is changing.

Never in the history of our planet have there been so many people over the age of 40. As recently as the 1930s, only 7 percent of the world’s population was that age or older. Now, however, there’s a 50th birthday celebrated somewhere every eight seconds.

The 2010 U.S. Census reports that the number of people living in Prime Time (40 and over) is increasing faster than any other segment of our population. This aging of our population is more than just a demographic phenomenon. It’s also changing the way we live, our economics and business standards as well.

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Leading this paradigm shift are, of course, the baby boomers. Since their conception after World War II, this wave of “America’s Youth” has demonstrated that by sheer numbers alone they’re capable of changing American economics.

Now, by demanding quality of life throughout their entire life span, they are changing the way we age.

R E D F I N I N G YO U T H

In this country, we often look to sports to define our heroes and role models. When you study the ranks of modern athletes, from pros to weekend warriors, the 40-and-overs fill the roads and playing fields.

If you’re a masters athlete or adult-onset exerciser, look around the next time you race. No longer are you the “old loner” out on the course, remembering the days before cell phones and having

means an inevitable decline from vitality to frailty, and have made it part of my research agenda to study masters athletes who continue to debunk the myth that turning 40 automatically means slowing down.

Studies of athletic performance across the lifespan indicate that the slowing phenomenon of the aging process doesn’t have a significant impact on performance until the 7th decade of life.

Much of the “slowing down” we see in the lives of older athletes of all skill levels has to more with changes in training intensity than changes in biology.

H OW FA S T D O W E AG E ?

Scientific studies of masters-age athletes are important because they can help identify factors that slow us down because of disuse and sedentary living versus those that are due to aging alone.

Masters athletes help demonstrate the fact that only 30 percent of how we age is determined by genetics. enough birthday candles to set a house on fire.

Now, you’re surrounded by thousands of recreational masters-aged athletes who look just like you—a generation determined to remain fit and strong.

According to John Hanc, colleague and sports writer: “Through a combination of scientific training, disciplined diet, and advanced sports medicine, they (masters-age athletes) are overturning immutable laws of biology, and they are reversing, or at least fighting to a draw, the aging process.”

A recent survey of active people in their 40s and 50s by the Arthritis Foundation demonstrated that: • 64 percent feel an average of 11 years younger than their actual age;

• 40 percent are living healthier and more physically fit than in their 20s; It’s important to note that these people are not the exception. All individuals have the chance to maintain this high quality of life and functional capacity throughout their lifespans if they choose to avoid sedentary living.

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In 2001, I began studying masters athletes who participated in the National Senior Games (the Senior Olympics). These recreational athletes exhibit high levels of functional capacity throughout their life spans, and may represent the purest measure of aging without the confounding variable of disuse and sedentary living.

In a study of performance times in track athletes racing at distances from 100m to 10,000m, I found running times across all distances declined with age.

While this trend was expected, I was surprised to find that the decline was so small.

Until the age of 75, the decline was slow and linear, with decreases of less than 2 percent per year—a number that wasn’t statistically significant.

At age 75, however, the rate of decline jumped to approximately 8 percent.

These results suggest that if disuse and disease are eliminated, individuals should be able to maintain high levels of functional independence until the age of 75.

Masters athletes help demonstrate the fact that only 30 percent of how we age is determined by genetics, while the remaining 70 percent is determined by the lifestyle choices we make—including the choice

to be active. Our genetic code can’t be altered, but training and lifestyle can. When the variable of disuse, atrophy and sedentary living are removed from the aging picture, we’re capable of high-level performance until our mid-70s.

Does this mean that as an aging population we expect too little of ourselves, and that we’re satisfied to settle into the myth of growing older the way our parents did?

My contention, as a surgeon and researcher out to change the way we age in this country, is that much of the disease and frailty we witness before our mid-70s is due to sedentary living and not merely aging alone.

T H E B I O LO GY O F AG I N G

Even though we’re physically capable of more than we expect of ourselves as we age, there are real agerelated factors that change the game. What really happens as we grow older?

At the cellular level, rapid cell division provides the human body with a remarkable regeneration capacity. It enables us to recover from injury rapidly throughout childhood and the early adult years.

As we age, though, our bodies become less

efficient at these regeneration activities, resulting in stiffer tissues and a decline in overall performance.

These changes lead to a decline in heart rate by 10 beats per minute per decade, unless we work at it.

When lean muscle mass declines and intramuscular fat increases, it leads to decreased strength and power.

Lung function gets stiffer and anabolic hormone production declines, as do the quality of neuronal pathways between the brain and muscles.

All these things attribute to loss of exercise economy, endurance capacity and lean muscle mass.

Many of these “age-related” declines, however, are amplified by sedentary living and the ravages of disease that accompanies it. It’s well documented that people who participate in persistent physical activity reduce their risk of developing diabetes by 40 percent, 50 percent less likely to die from heart disease, 40 percent less likely to die from prostate cancer, and 60 percent less likely to ever develop ovarian or breast cancer.

Healthy active people are 1.5 times less likely to suffer from depression than sedentary people, and men who are active have 41 percent less erectile dysfunction than those who are sedentary.

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F.A.C.I.N.G. Our Future

Whether you’re an athlete seeking to maximize your performance and minimize injury, a “once upon a time” athlete getting off the couch for the first time in 20 years or an adult-onset exerciser, there’s not an age or an activity level that prevents you from taking control of your future.

The question is, how do you start? Despite the plethora of information on every newsstand about the desirability of getting ripped abs or a bikini body, I find many of my patients are overwhelmed and not sure what to do. I remind them to F.A.C.E. their future. Living in Prime Time means a well-rounded exercise program with four key components.

F (FL E X I B I L I T Y )

E (E Q U I L I B R I U M A N D BA L A N C E)

As we age, our muscles and tendons shorten and the bonds between the individual fibers strengthen.

That’s what makes us feel stiff and brittle. To avoid muscle pulls and tendon injury we must stretch each muscle group every day for 30 seconds. No bouncing or jerking—just one long continuous stretch.

Finally, as we age our neuromuscular pathways decline and lead to poor balance unless we retrain them daily. This is simple. In a safe place, stand on one foot. Do this any and everywhere, such as when you’re brushing your teeth, talking on the phone or doing dishes.

When standing on one foot with your eyes open becomes easy, swing your arms or, even harder, close your eyes. You’ll rapidly improve your balance which is which is important, as one in three people age 65 and older fall—and a significant number break bones when they do.

So, just how old are you? Aging well and redefining youth is not just about “anti-aging.” It is about harnessing the wisdom that comes from lots of birthday candles to take control of our future.

Remember, only 30 percent of how we age is due to genetics. So, we can stop blaming our parents for how we’re aging and make changes to the 70 percent of factors that we control through our lifestyles.

If you’re living over 40, you’re living in Prime Time. These can be the best years of our lives.

A ( A E RO B I C E X E RC I S E)

Our bodies need intense exercise every other day. A daily dose of leisurely walking is better than nothing, but our bodies are amazing adaptors—and after an aerobic routine becomes easy we benefit less. I recommend interval type aerobic activity. This can be performed on any cardio machine, from the rower to the treadmill, as long as you get your heart rate up for at least 30-60 minutes.

C (C A R RY A LOA D)

I purposefully don’t call this portion of exercise “weight lifting.” Your body responds most effectively to resistance training that mimics the way you use your muscles in life. That’s using gravity and ground reactive forces pushing and pulling against your body weight. I’m a huge fan of functional resistance training with free weights and balls of all sorts used in circuits of total body strength exercises that engage your core, legs and arms all at one time.

You can find examples of my total body circuits in my book Guide to Thrive: 4 Steps to Body, Brains and Bliss, available on Amazon or on my website, vondawright.com.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES vondawright.com BOOKS BY DR. WRIGHT Fitness After 40: How to Stay Strong at Any Age

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Dr. Vonda Wright’s Guide to Thrive: 4 Steps to Body, Brains, and Bliss

Reserve Now!

Membership Enrollment Office Now Open!

Reserve your membership at the Peggy & Philip B. Crosby Wellness Center The new state-of-the-art Wellness Center is located within the Winter Park Health Foundation’s Center for Health & Wellbeing. Experience everything you need in one place: fitness facility, lab services, healthy cafÊ, children wellness center, massage therapy, personal training, and more. For more information, contact (866) 876-6996 or visit crosbywellnesscenter.org

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Visit the Member Enrollment Office located inside Easter Seals at 2010 Crosby Way, Winter Park, FL 32792

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It’s Going to Be Messy and That’s OK

BY A M Y C A M E RO N O ’ RO U R K E

When you become a caregiver, you become an advocate. You need to fully understand your loved one’s wishes before you can help make key decisions about the kind of care and intervention he or she would want—or not want—toward the end of life.

This requires discussions that can be difficult. But it’s important such discussions begin well before there’s a health crisis. You need to fully understand and follow the values of your loved one, not your own.

That can be really hard to do.

The healthcare system is designed to treat, fix and cure. When people are older, however, they may not be fixable, treatable or curable. It’s possible that some people in such a system might not be able to walk or eat after surgery. Perhaps they might not even survive a surgical procedure.

If your parent ends up in the hospital, slow everything down and buy some time before immediately being swept into a series of tests. Tell the doctors or nurses: “Let me take a few minutes and think about this. Let me talk to my siblings. Let me talk to my parent.”

Ask yourself and your parent: “If, as a result of these tests, we find a medical problem—are we going to do the thing they recommend we do?”

THE ART OF CAREGIVING

If you’re not, then do you really need the test? If the result is going to be an invasive surgery that your parent doesn’t want, then consider not taking the test.

There’s a common conception that when you’re caring for someone, you must do something; you must intervene. However, most of the older people I work with don’t want the intervention.

They don’t even want to go to the hospital. The hardest thing to do is to simply let them be, and to let them ride out their remaining time in a respectful way.

These are the difficult decisions you’ll be faced with as a caregiver. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect; to do everything right. It’s not possible.

Just be with your parent and understand that, at times, it’s going to be messy. And that’s really ok.

Finally, if you have an aging parent, ask yourself what you need to do to have no regrets—and then do that thing. You want to be able to lay your head on the pillow at night feeling comfortable about what you did —and what you chose not to do.

Amy Cameron O’Rourke is founder and president of The Cameron Group. O’Rourke has 30 years of experience in health care, 23 in the field of aging. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health and a Master’s Certificate in Gerontology. She is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and a Certified Care Manager.

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MIRACLES OUT OF NOWHERE Robby Steinhardt Finds New Life After Near Death

BY B I L L S H A FE R

POINT OF KNOW RETURN They say the sea turns so dark that, You know it’s time, you see the sign.

It was appallingly clear for everyone to see. Robby Steinhardt of Kansas was near death. You can see it in a documentary about the group, Miracles Out of Nowhere.

Steinhardt’s swollen face was barely recognizable, and his speaking voice was frighteningly deep and hollow. He sounded nothing like the man who sang colead on the band’s classic hits. He was in big trouble and everybody knew it—except him.

“All of a sudden people are telling me, ‘You don’t look right, you might need to get a little bit of help there,’” he recalls.

Finally, his wife, Cindy, had enough. Overruling his objections, she rushed him to the hospital. Still, she had to implore him to get out of the car and go inside.

Recalls Steinhardt: “The doctors examined me, turned to Cindy and told her that if she hadn’t brought me in right then, 24 hours later I would’ve been dead.”

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Members of Robby Steinhardt and The Music of Kansas at the Capitol Theatre, Clearwater, FL.

DUST IN THE WIND I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone.

That’s the first line from the song Dust In The Wind, the biggest hit the band Kansas ever had. Was it really more than 40 years ago?

Kerry Livgren, who wrote the song, describes it as a meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death. Now, Steinhardt seemed to be standing at the threshold. He was prepped immediately and taken back for surgery.

Following the 2013 quintuple bypass, he was unconscious for the next four days. It would be 52 days before he was released from the hospital.

Recovery wouldn’t be easy. And as timing would have it, Steinhardt missed the band’s reunion concert and reunion. “That would have meant the world to me,” he says.

QUESTIONS OF MY CHILDHOOD It’s a game that I’ve been living, now I need to know what’s real.

Can you help me find the answers, can you tell the way I feel?

Steinhardt considers himself fortunate in life. He says his luck began when he was just four days old, when he was adopted by Ilsa and Milton Steinhardt.

Milton was a world-class violinist and director of music history at Kansas University, while Ilsa was a pianist. They started their son on violin lessons at the age of eight. They knew he had talent—but never tried to force him to choose a musical career.

Still, stepping away from an orchestra and into a rock band had to have been a bit of a shock for his classically trained parents.

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“But I was so fortunate,” Steinhardt recalls. “My parents were truly supportive, and always wanted me to do what made me happy. Of course, none of us had any idea where my journey was about to take me.”

MIRACLES OUT OF NOWHERE Here I am just waiting for a sign, asking questions, learning all the time.

It’s always here, it’s always there, it’s just love, and miracles out of nowhere.

Kansas was unlike any other band of its era, and Steinhardt’s violin and vocals were important reasons why. The group produced nine gold albums, three multi-platinum albums, one platinum studio album, one platinum live double album, and a million-selling single—Dust in the Wind.

“You know, we never dreamed in a million years that something like that would happen to us,” says Steinhardt. “But against a lot of odds we made it.”

If the band’s success can be considered a miracle, then perhaps so can Steinhardt’s recovery.

Prolonged use of a ventilator led doctors to believe that Steinhardt would suffer vocal damage. There was concern that neuropathy would affect his hands and fingers, making it difficult to play the violin.

But through a combination of sheer will and good fortune, Steinhardt is back on stage, performing with a renewed sense of purpose and passion.

But he’s not in Kansas anymore.

MYSTERIES AND MAYHEM I heard my name being summoned, as I looked around to see, a hooded judge and jury.

There was no mercy there for me.

“Being a rock musician is not as easy as you think,”

says Steinhardt. He had left the band once before, from the mid ’80s to the mid ’90s, only to return. But this time was different.

There was some disagreement regarding the band’s musical direction, and the touring schedule was substantial and exhausting. In 2006, Steinhardt made the decision to move on.

“Actually, the reason I left was because I’d pretty much used myself up,” he says.

“I’d done just about everything I wanted to do and some things that I didn’t want to and I figured it was probably time for a change for me and the band. So, one day, I ended up going home—and that was pretty much it.”

TWO CENTS WORTH There’s nowhere to turn, so I’ll just have to learn not to cry no more.

It’s all I can do till we find something new, but I’ll get by, you know I’ll try.

“It took me all this time to realize you can’t live like you did when you were 18,” Steinhardt says.

During that 52-day stay in the hospital following his heart surgery, there wasn’t much for him to do other than think.

“It really gave me perspective,” he says. “When I was young, I thought I was invincible but when you go through a life-threatening event, you become extremely thankful.”

Wisdom, he says, comes with age. Steinhardt says he’s grateful for his life and friends, and proud of the music he made with Kansas.

“I’m married to the best friend I’ve ever had, and I can actually say I’m really happy,” he adds. “I’m 68 years old, and this is the best time of my life.”

CARRY ON WAYWARD SON Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion.

I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high.

Along with new beginnings come new opportunities.

Steinhardt is involved in a musical project that will delight Kansas fans, teaming up with long-time friends in the Tampa-based band Stormbringer to create Robby Steinhardt and the Music of Kansas.

His voice is strong, his fingers are nimble and the passion that motivates him is back.

“What we created in Kansas really was magical,” he says. “And to have the chance to expose even more people to those incredible songs, but at a schedule that allows us all to do other things as well, would be a dream come true for me.”

It would be easy for Steinhardt to just let it go—to CL ASSIC ROCKERS

When I was young, I thought I was invincible but when you go through a life-threatening event, you become extremely thankful.

spend the rest of his days looking back. But he’s reconnecting with other musicians and other bands and exploring new projects and exciting opportunities.

He just finished recording tracks for a solo album by Jon Anderson, voice of the band Yes. He’s had conversations about doing even more.

“I’m looking forward, and it’s great to be able to do that,” he says. “You know, there just might be something still out there for me!”

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5

TECH TRENDS

BY RO B E R T T H O M P S O N

Voice Technology We’re living in an era where we not only have nearly anything at our fingertips, but also at the beck and call of our voices. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home have been leading the charge in developing technology that allows users to access information, order services or perform a host of other functions, all through vocalizing commands. As this technology continues to advance, we’ll see even more applications. In fact, ComScore is projecting that 50 percent of all searches will be done via voice by 2020.

Ride-Sharing Services There’s no doubt that ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, have fundamentally altered the way many people live. We’re no longer solely dependent on public transportation or expensive cab rides for transportation when driving is not an option. We can simply hire the nearest available driver through a smart phone app. As a result, transportation has become more convenient, efficient and economical. This is a clear game changer for those living in big cities where personal cars are scarce. But it has also provided major benefits for aging adults who are no longer able to drive.

Services like Lift Hero, SilverRide and Go Go Grandparent are specializing in providing transportation for seniors who are seeking to remain independent, engaged and active.

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Home Automation Home automation technology is continually evolving to help you live more securely and comfortably. Companies such as Ring are devoted to keeping your safety a top priority by enabling video doorbells and security cameras that can be viewed right from your smart phone. Nest similarly offers advanced security, but also focuses on keeping your home comfortable by integrating smart thermostats that can be controlled from anywhere and can automatically sense when temperatures should be changed.

Visit GrowingBolder.com for a list of resources to learn more about each of these tech trends.

Smart Toilets It’s true! The smart technology that seems to prevail in all areas of our lives has now made the leap into our bathrooms. Smart toilets are making their mainstream debut. These devices offer various features such as built in bidets, self-cleaning functions, automated flushing and safety night lights.

And if you want a little extra comfort, you can go so far as to purchase toilet seats with warmers or options for adjustable heights.

Telemedicine Although many might be initially skeptical, there’s no doubt that telemedicine is on the rise. According to a report from BCC Research, this industry is expected to reach 19.7 billion people by 2019 (up from 15.6 billion people in 2015)—and the signs only continue to point up from there. At its core, telemedicine is a way of virtually communicating with doctors through either audio or video. This allows doctors and patients to reduce time spent traveling or in the waiting room, while providing more access to specialists and faster results.

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MOTOR CITY MELODY SONGWRITER HOPES “THE D” RENEWS DETROIT’S SPIRIT

BY JAC K I E C A R L I N Maryanne Bilham 86

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If you think not being able to read music or play a single note should keep you from becoming a Grammy-, Emmy- or Tonywinning songwriter, then you need to meet Allee Willis.

Willis is famous for composing the theme song for the sitcom Friends as well as September and Boogie Wonderland for Earth, Wind & Fire. She also wrote Neutron Dance for the Pointer Sisters and the Broadway musical version of the Oprah Winfreyproduced Tony- and Grammy-winning The Color Purple.

In fact, Willis-penned songs have sold more than 50 million records. This year, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

After the nomination was announced, she told The New York Times that getting the esteemed honor “was never that important to me until I got it, and then I realized how important it was.”

Willis is also a painter, a set designer, a writer and an award-winning filmmaker. Her latest big, multi-year project is a love song to her hometown of Detroit, a Motor City singalong called “The D.” “The song was written so every Detroiter who wanted to be on the record could be on the record,” she says. “It’s the first record in history where the original artist is thousands and thousands of people.”

With a crew of 15, Willis visited more than 50 locations and let people do their thing. School choirs and theatre groups sang and the Detroit Bass Players and Metro Detroit Area Guitar Players wailed away, giving the music a “big-bottom sound” that rattled the walls.

Some spun hubcaps while others breathed fire. And Willis even found herself dancing with dogs. “Whatever your talent is, if you wanted to exhibit it, this was the time,” he says.

Some famous Motowners even joined in on the project.

Among them: Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson and Lamont Dozer, part of the famous Motown songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland that wrote hits for The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers and many others.

When she was finished, Willis had 4,000 separate vocal and instrument tracks and more than 2,000 hours of footage. Then came the tricky part—turning “The D” into a song, a music video and a feature-length documentary.

She successfully wrangled all those voices in a song that she wrote, produced, directed and animated for its video—but her efforts to also complete a documentary were ultimately unsuccessful.

Not that it slowed her down or set her back. She transitioned to performing one-woman, multimedia “party performance” shows across the country. Willis

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You have to really drive in Detroit to find those buildings with those blownout windows.

Otherwise, it’s gorgeous and it’s filled with the most soulful people in the world who just don’t give up.

Lily Tomlin and Martha Reeves were among the celebrities helping to bring Willis's "big idea" to life. Mumford High School in northwest Detroit was one of the many locations where throngs gathered to sing along to "The Big D," a song celebrating the Motor City. Photography courtesy of Allee Willis.

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writes, directs, produces, performs, art directs and is the production designer for the wild, fun and freewheeling shows, drawing upon her comedy, art, videos, technology and love of kitsch. The shows feature sing-alongs to some of her biggest hits, revealing stories about her writing process and interactive art creation involving the audience.

Famed for her wild, eccentric and eclectic home stuffed full of pop culture objects, Willis now sells some of those pieces at her shows to benefit charities —primarily in her beloved Detroit.

Her philanthropy and contributions to the Motor City were recently recognized at the Detroit Music Awards, where she received the distinguishedachievement award.

Willis, now 70, says she’s been waiting her whole life for purpose and meaning like this.

“I never got to do what it is that I think I’m best at doing,” she says. “I’ve had achievements in a lot of separate fields, but I always, from the very beginning, saw myself as a multimedia artist in the true sense of the word.”

She has been looking for a “big idea” that allows her to combine all her talents.

“It’s always been a bit frustrating for me,” says Willis. “But I just kept pushing until someone gave me a chance to finally do it on the scale that I knew I was capable of doing it. And I guess that’s what this Detroit project was.”

Willis had grown tired of what she considered to be the “excessively undeserved” bad rap with which her hometown had been saddled. Plus, she adds, she saw a lot of similarities between her own life story and that of Detroit.

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Says, Willis: “I think it’s potentially a model city for this century, the same way it was for the last, because it’s really dealing with the realities of what happens when you lose everything. And as a selffunded artist, I know what that’s like.”

She’s already witnessed “The D” project bringing a renewed sense of pride to Detroiters. And she hopes it tells the real story of the Motor City to the outside world.

“Whenever I would go home, I wouldn’t see this city that everyone else was seeing falling apart,” Willis says. “You have to really drive in Detroit to find those buildings with those blown-out windows.

Otherwise, it’s gorgeous and it’s filled with the most soulful people in the world who just don’t give up.”

This isn’t her first time experimenting with a massive collaboration.

“I started developing a social network on the Internet in 1992, which was excessively early for something like that,” she notes. “I was always interested in, ‘What’s a song if a trillion people are collaborating on it, not just two?’ With Detroit, it’s almost like I’ve got that collaboration with a live city.”

Allee Willis is living proof that the only person putting limits on your potential is yourself.

“I don’t know how to read, write or play music,” she says. “I don’t really know how to do anything I do.

I just always want to do it so bad I would figure out some way to do it. Luckily enough, I could knock a few of them out of the park, so I got a reputation for doing things in an unorthodox way.”

Unorthodox, perhaps—but the world is a better place for her tendency to color outside the lines.

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TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE Two Women Discover Their True Purpose in Life in Africa

BY JAC K I E C A R L I N

One of the most exciting things about life is you never know when you might be called upon to make a real difference in the world—when someone else’s struggles might transform you in a way you never could have imagined.

It’s a moment that could even take you halfway across the world.

In the mid-’90s, Tracy Rubstello’s life went off the tracks. The stay-at-home mom suddenly found herself going through a devastating divorce, and struggled to find a way to care for her two daughters.

As she tried to cope with her new life as a single mother, she began hearing about genocide in Rwanda.

By the summer of 1994, nearly 1 million Rwandans had been killed. Mothers, she read, had been raped and beaten. Many had witnessed the murders of family members.

“I was still at my lowest point,” says Rubstello, 58.

“The stories of these women and their courage really served as an inspiration for me. They helped me get out of bed each day. They helped me learn how to be courageous in the face of the worst life can give you.”

Eventually, she established a friendly relationship with her ex-husband and got her own life in order.

“The reconciliation we’ve seen in Rwanda inspired me to forgive and let go,” she says. “If you offer your pain, good can come out of it. It can be transformed.

Anyone can do it. I’m living testimony to that.”

But she knew there was something more she had to do.

“I traveled to Rwanda to thank them for what they’d done for me,” Rubstello recalls. “It was truly amazing to them that anyone had even heard about their stories—let alone be inspired by them.”

It was a trip that would change her life forever.

When she returned to the U.S., she quit her job and became involved with organizations dedicated to helping the people of that war-torn country.

For several years, she served on the board of directors of ERM Rwanda, a Christian nonprofit focused on helping Rwandan widows and orphans.

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While she remains friendly with the organization, she has since refocused her passion and purpose toward supporting foster children in her home state, Washington.

Says Rubstello: “I’m now the Director of Development—and the only employee—at Bridge Receiving Center, a nonprofit that’s establishing a receiving center for children ages 6-17 and entering foster care for the first time,” she says.

“It’s a bit of a challenge being a part of a startup, but I love doing things that give back and get my mind off myself and onto people who truly need to be encouraged and empowered. Our goal is to create a less traumatic, more hope-filled future for these children.”

She’s also found love again, remarrying three years ago. She and her husband are planning their first trip to Rwanda together so she can show him the nation that meant so much to her healing journey.

A visit to Africa was also a life-changing experience for Rachel O’Neill. To celebrate her 50th birthday, she and her husband, Michael, decided to visit Uganda and Kenya on safaris. Rachel was instantly smitten.

“I just loved the children, the people, the music, the sound and the texture of Africa,” she says. “It really got into my soul. I just knew I’d be back.”

O’Neill eventually launched Little Dresses for Africa, a nonprofit group that provides children with dresses and shorts made from pillowcases. Since its founding in 2007, the group has distributed more than 8 million dresses to 84 countries in and around Africa.

“In most parts of Africa that I’ve visited, the girls come last, although they do most of the work,” she says.

“They work in the fields, they work in the home, they take care of the children, they do the cleaning and cooking. Yet, when they line up, they always come last.

I just wanted to do something that would honor these little girls—and make them realize that they’re worthy.”

It was an unlikely endeavor for someone who doesn’t even sew.

“I reached out to my friends for help,” O’Neill recalls. “We discovered this pattern that’s been M OV E FO RWA R D. G I V E B AC K . ®

“

You just have to care. You just have to get involved and get off the couch to do something.

Your life will be transformed.

around since the pioneer days. They used to use feed sacks to make them, but now we use pillowcases.

They’re very easy to make, so no one has an excuse— not even me.”

Since its founding, Little Dresses for Africa has expanded its focus to meet other needs across the world. The dresses have been distributed to 27 countries outside of Africa—including the U.S., where they’ve been sent to several Native American reservations and communities in the Appalachians.

In Africa, O’Neill and her team also launched projects to build clean water wells, primary schools and community gathering places throughout the continent.

“I never set out to do anything like this,” she says.

“A need was met. We just continue as we develop relationships to see more and more needs that need to be filled. And if we each do a little bit, we can make a big difference.”

O’Neill says her organization is changing lives one little dress at a time.

“If you look at millions of children, of course you’ll get overwhelmed and feel like you can’t do anything,” she adds. “But if you just look at a few little girls at a well, or 50 girls in a school, or 100 girls in a village—then you attack the problem a little bit at a time, and make a difference. Pretty soon, it just spreads and spreads.”

Rubstello agrees with this strategy.

“I’m living proof that you don’t have to be an expert in a field,” she says. “You just have to care. You just have to get involved and get off the couch to do something. Your life will be transformed.”

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1 . V I S I T T H E V I S I TO R C E N T E R

Five Fantastic Experiences at Grand Canyon

BY GA RY M C K E C H N I E

Grand Canyon is a common addition to travel plans; one of the few places in America that every American wants to visit. The best time to go is when you have abundant time to see it—at least three days, or possibly more. But if your travel time is tight, consider these five activities you can experience in just one very full day.

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The perfect place to begin your visit, it offers a sneak preview of the experiences that lie ahead. It’s where you’ll find bicycle rentals, park transportation, small restaurants, exhibits and one of the best introductory films at any national park, the Discovery Channel’s Grand Canyon – A Journey of Wonder, which is a powerful film on the history, geology and sheer natural beauty of Grand Canyon. After the movie, you’re just a few minutes’ walk to Mather Point, where you’ll catch your first glimpse of the canyon. But now you get to see its actual size.

2 . WA L K T H E R I M T R A I L

The Rim Trail stretches nearly 10 miles, but even on a short walk you’ll have plenty of time to explore the canyonside trail within the Historic Village, which is where you’ll find the greatest concentration of fellow travelers as well as shops, restaurants and overlooks.

And just beyond the entrance to the Bright Angel Trail at the west end of the village, you can board a free shuttle to any of overlook points between the Historic Village and Hermits Rest at the end of the trail—with each and every curve and point revealing a new and unique view of the canyon.

3 . V I S I T T H E T U S AYA N RU I N S …

A N D B E YO N D

Long before there was a national park (or the United States), Ancestral Puebloans had established dozens of communities around the canyon, one of which was located about 20 miles east of the Historic Village. The excavation of a Native American village revealed the foundations of homes and kivas that are approximately 1,000 years old. And in the small museum you’ll see tools, jewelry, art and artifacts that were unearthed here. From here, it’s another few miles east to the Desert View Watchtower, which was designed in 1932 by Mary Colter, the woman considered the “Architect of the Southwest.” Head to the top of the tower and savor one of the most spectacular views of Grand Canyon.

4 . WA L K T H E B R I G H T A N G E L T R A I L

Hiking is one of the peak experiences of Grand Canyon, and a short walk below the rim should be enough to give you a glimpse of its rugged beauty from another angle. You’ll find the trailhead at the west end of the Historic Village. But before you start hiking down, make sure you have a pole or walking stick for support, sturdy shoes (no high heels, please) and some water and snacks just in case you end up walking farther than you expect. After you walk through the first tunnel, look up and to the left and you’ll see what most visitors miss: Native American pictographs that are 1,000 years old. Just go as far as your ability and fitness allows, but be realistic—it’s simple walking down, but it’s a strenuous walk back to the rim.

How to Explore Grand Canyon National Park Lodges provides premier in-park lodging, managing six distinct historic lodges.

From the El Tovar hotel, long considered the crown jewel of national park hotels, to Phantom Ranch, the only lodging on the floor of the canyon, you’ll find accommodations to help you get the most out of your visit to the Grand Canyon. You can also book rafting, railway, and motorcoach tours.

For more information and reservations, visit grandcanyonlodges.com or call 888-297-2757.

5 . V I S I T T H E H O PI H O U S E

In the center of the Historic Village is one of the most visually appealing structures in the American Southwest.

It’s the Hopi House, and it was designed in 1905 by Mary Colter of Desert Watchtower fame. Hopi House was originally a house where Native American artisans lived and worked, creating crafts and arts for visitors. No one lives there today, but it’s one of the best places in America to find certified handmade Native American merchandise—exquisite paintings, pottery and jewelry.

6 . B O N U S : D I N E AT T H E H I S TO R I C E L TOVA R

A signature experience for breakfast, lunch or dinner, a meal in one of the world’s most recognized restaurants is something you’ll remember forever. The dining room, naturally, features Native American paintings and décor while the superb menu features locally sourced ingredients. The setting, just steps from the South Rim, makes this a uniquely American dining experience.

A DV E N T U R E S

Gary McKechnie is author of the best-selling Great American Motorcycle Tours. He also wrote National Geographic’s USA 101 and Ten Best of Everything: National Parks. He lectures on American travel and history aboard the ships of the Cunard, Seabourn and Silversea lines.

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MOTHER NATURE

BY L E S L I E K E M P P O O L E

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Marjory Stoneman Douglas was the patron saint of Florida’s Everglades, a diminutive activist with a booming elocution whose presence at a public hearing put fear in the hearts of those who would damage her beloved watershed.

Her 1947 book, Everglades: River of Grass, taught the world to love this unique freshwater ecosystem, but it was her environmental crusade in the late twentieth century to save the Everglades that aroused public attention and pushed politicians to protect them.

That she didn’t become an activist until she was 79 is remarkable but unsurprising— many female conservationists find their voices in middle age when their energies can be turned toward saving wildlife and fighting pollution.

Rachel Carson was 55 when her groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, was published in 1962, spurring the modern environmental movement. Minerva Hoyt was 70 when her beloved California desert became Joshua Tree National Monument, now a national park.

Douglas’ life span of 108 years enabled her to become a major force in American environmentalism, rallying citizens to save a precious natural resource that once was considered a scourge to developers’ dreams of “progress.” Hers is an example of the power of one person to make change—and the fact that it is never too late to get started.

“There are no other Everglades in the world,” Douglas declared in the first line of her book, published a month before the dedication of Everglades National Park, now recognized as a World Heritage Site.

With that, she began a long, eloquent description of this wilderness area, describing its geology, ecology and the history of native people as well as European settlement in south Florida. It sold out by the next month, immediately going into additional printing. It remains in print today.

Douglas, a journalist, had a successful writing career in coming decades, but it wasn’t until 1969 that her life took a new turn when she was challenged to get involved in saving the Everglades, then threatened by development, pollution and a scheme to put a jetport in its heart.

Hers is an example of the power of one person to make change—and the fact that it is never too late to get started.

It was, she wrote in her 1987 autobiography, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River, a new life chapter that “promised to become a reason for things, a central force in my existence at the beginning of my 80th year. Perhaps it had taken me that long to figure out exactly what I was able to contribute, and for me to marshal my forces.”

And it all began with a trip to a food mart.

Douglas was aware of the fledgling 1960s environmental movement in Florida, but considered herself a “sympathetic bystander.” Then one night in 1969, she stopped to buy cat food and ran into a young woman who was fighting the proposed jetport with activist Joe Browder. Douglas recounted: “I said, ‘I think you and Joe are doing great work. It’s wonderful.’” She looked me square in the eye and said, ‘Yeah, what are you doing?’ ‘Oh me?’ I said. ‘I wrote the book.’” “‘That’s not enough,’ she countered. ‘We need people to help us.’ To get out of the conversation, I casually mumbled some platitude like, ‘I’ll do whatever I can.’”

Browder knocked on her door the next day, asking Douglas to publicly AC T I V I S T S

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denounce the project. When Douglas replied that such a message would be more effective coming from an organization, she got a new push from Browder: Why didn’t she start an organization?

“So, there I was, stuck with a challenge that began as a polite rejoinder in the grocery-store line,” she wrote.

After a trip to the jetport site, Douglas was sparked to opposition. While sitting at a book-signing table in November 1969 she talked to Michael Chenoweth, a friend from sailing events. What would he think about an organization, perhaps to be called The Friends of Everglades? Chenoweth answered by handing Douglas a dollar bill. Douglas recalled: “Now I had not only the idea of an organization to contend with, but also one member and an endowment.” And she had a new role as an environmental leader.

The Friends of the Everglades (FOE) became an important grassroots advocacy group that today draws members from across the state.

Author Michael Grunwald writes that Douglas used her “moral authority as the grandmother of the Glades” to press her points, knowing that no one can be rude to “this poor little old woman.” But she could be rude to them. In her later years, Douglas’ authority and power were evident—politicians from all parties 96

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sought her endorsement, and her opinion about pending Everglades legislation held great sway.

By the time of her death in 1998, Douglas had secured her place in history. Through her book and FOE, she left an indelible print on the state’s consciousness and on its literal and political landscape.

A year earlier, her name was placed on the Everglades Wilderness Area; it also is found on a Miami elementary school, a state building housing an environmental protection agency and on an education center on Key Biscayne that she helped secure.

More importantly, she inspired future generations of activists to take up her mantle. Her name now also is intertwined in the crusade of the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a February 2018 school shooting that ended 17 lives.

She would be proud of the campaign by teenaged survivors who are challenging the establishment to change gun laws. “[Douglas] was the matriarch of conservation in Florida and among the giants of conservation in the history of this country,” says Clay Henderson, executive director of Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience.

“She lived to see restoration of the Everglades rise to the top of the national agenda,” he continues.

“Her success was a factor of her sense of history, her ability to communicate effectively and her focus on a single problem over a long period of time. She was the embodiment of the great lure of conservation: that one person can make a difference.”

She was the embodiment of the great lure of conservation: that one person can make a difference.

Leslie Kemp Poole is assistant professor of environmental studies at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Her book, Saving Florida: Women’s Fight for the Environment in the Twentieth Century reflects her interest in how women, who had little political power during that era, rallied together in grassroots efforts to achieve their goals of preserving natural resources. Their work resulted in parks, city beautification, antipollution laws and protected endangered species.

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The Motorcycle Matriarch

BY B I L L S H A FE R

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Gloria Struck is the oldest and most interesting woman on two wheels.

Even though she has just celebrated her 93rd birthday, there’s nothing she loves to do more than ride a motorcycle—and not just around the block.

Every year, she travels from her home in New Jersey to Sturgis, South Dakota. She also rides to Daytona Beach, Florida, for Bike Week. She’s adamant about piloting the bike herself.

“Oh, I will not ride on the back of anybody’s bike,” she says. “I won’t even let anybody ride on the back of mine!”

And she bristles at the suggestion of having her motorcycle shipped to the events. “Never will I ever trailer a bike,” she says. “If I can’t ride it, then it’ll be time for me to quit.”

Struck loves to laugh, and believes in living each day to the fullest— something she says comes from the pain of losing her father at a very young age. “It was in 1928, right after my third birthday,” she recalls. “He was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after I had turned 3 years old.”

Her energy, agility and appearance cause many to assume she’s much younger—a fact that she finds amusing.

“Nobody believes I’m 93, that’s for sure,” she says with a smile. “I have 70-yearold-guys hitting on me and I tell them, ‘Hey, you’re too old for me!’”

The secret to her longevity, Struck believes, is keeping her diet as healthy as possible.

“The main thing I believe is you are what you eat, and I’m a vegetarian,” she explains. “I used to eat meat, chicken and stuff like that—but I just can’t stomach it anymore.”

She believes her diet—which doesn’t include frozen or pre-prepared foods—has been an important factor in keeping her in the saddle.

“As we age, it becomes even more important to take care of our bodies,” she says. “This is how I live my life, and I think it makes a big difference for me.”

Struck is proud of her pioneering place as one of the first members of The Motor Maids.

R O C K S TA R S O F AG I N G ®

“Very few women rode motorcycles,” she explains. “The Motor Maids started in 1940, and I’m one of the oldest members still riding.

I’ve belonged to the club for over 70 years.”

When Struck shows up at a motorcycle event, she always draws large crowds. Bikers of all ages are anxious to meet her and to hear her stories.

“No matter whether they’re male or female, they all say I’m an inspiration to them,” she says. “They say I inspire them to keep on going, not to just sit there and watch TV all day or do their knitting or whatever.

Get out there and live your dreams. It’s never too late. That’s my philosophy of life. No matter how old you are, just keep on going.”

Get out there and live your dreams. It’s never too late.

That’s my philosophy of life.

It’s a philosophy Struck has followed for her entire life.

“See, when I was in my 70s, I said, ‘Ooh, I wonder if I’ll still be riding when I’m 80.’

Then when I was 80, I said, ‘Ooh, I wonder if I’ll still be riding when I’m 90.’ And now that I’m 93, I have my sights set on turning 100.

Because when I do, I’m going to do something no 100-year-old has ever done before. I’m going to ride cross-country on two wheels, and that is a definite!”

Photo: Timothy Remus

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AGING SCRIPTS AND

TRANSFORMATION

BY K AY VA N N O R M A N 100

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Do you expect to be healthy and active through your full lifespan? Most people answer yes to that question.

But when I ask audiences to stand and either remain standing or sit down based upon their answers to yes or no questions, surprising gaps emerge between what people are thinking, saying and actually doing about aging well.

Do you expect to be as strong and agile five years from now as you are today? Most people remain standing.

Do you strength train at least twice a week on a regular basis? About 70 percent of the audience sits down.

That’s a gap. Unless you’re challenging your muscles regularly you can easily lose half your strength by age 70.

In the past two weeks, have you made a joking or serious reference to your physical performance being diminished by age, or to having a “senior moment” when forgetting a name or a fact? That question takes out the majority of those still standing.

After 10 questions, very few audience members (whether their ages are 40-plus or 80-plus) remain standing whose internalized expectations—thoughts, words and actions—are aligned for positive aging outcomes.

AG I N G S C R I P T S

POSSIBILIT Y VERSUS PROBABILIT Y

Where do expectations come from? No one ages in a bubble. We age in families, in communities and in cultures. We learn about aging from our parents and grandparents, and our children learn about aging from us. Along the way, we either reject or internalize community and cultural “aging scripts.”

In my case, both sets of grandparents retired in their 60s, then quickly grew bored and started over, pursuing new challenges into their 90s. So, remaining active and engaged regardless of age is one of my family’s aging scripts.

Living in a community where it’s common to see people of all ages downhill skiing and hiking mountain trails reinforces my positive aging expectations.

Unfortunately, negative aging scripts often overpower positive scripts. Many people celebrate older adults who smash stereotypes, but still believe that—for most of us, anyway—physical frailty is a “normal” part of aging.

Frailty is very common and predictable with age —but it’s not normal. In one study, 100 nursing-home residents ages 72-98 doubled their strength after 10 weeks of strength training—demonstrating that frailty is preventable and even reversible.

Great news, right? Yes, but this landmark study was conducted in 1990, followed by hundreds of similar studies. Yet, physical frailty remains a leading cause of nursing-home admissions.

What if the vast majority of people believed that aging with vitality was not only a possibility, but a probability? Consider the difference.

Possibility feels remote and infers lots of “ifs”—if you have great genetics, if you’re super motivated and if you’re lucky. Probability feels attainable.

Immersed in the probability of lifelong vitality, we wouldn’t accept frailty as normal, nor would we respond to functional challenges differently based on age.

Currently, young people with functional challenges are given resources, tools and encouragement to overcome and live fully in spite of those challenges. They often accomplish amazing things as a result.

Yet, functionally challenged older adults are not commonly given resources and tools to cope with their challenges. Like possibility versus probability, there’s a profoundly different mindset between overcoming and coping—resulting in profoundly different outcomes.

Where do expectations come from? No one ages in a bubble.

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Believing in the probability of lifelong vitality pulls the thread of vibrant living through all ages and levels of function.

T R A N S FO R M AT I O N

Believing in the probability of lifelong vitality pulls the thread of vibrant living through all ages and levels of function.

This concept prompted me to write a 2009 article challenging the senior-housing industry: Instead of designing communities to “take care” of older adults, they could design “Centers of Elder-hood” where residents of all abilities collaborate on “purpose projects” for the broader community.

Rather than boasting of proximity to healthcare and activities that “give” meaning and purpose, these purpose-centered senior living centers would boast of proximity to community outreach opportunities such as schools.

They would be planned and built around an overarching purpose: environmental action, animal rescue, organic farming or children’s issues such as hunger, bullying or foster care. Options are endless when focused on purpose and adaptive strategies that empower engagement.

The article struck a nerve. I received many positive letters, but also hate mail for suggesting that we “use the elderly” and for overestimating their capabilities.

I remain convinced that it doesn’t take a high level of function to be a loving and calming presence for a frightened child in crisis, and that Centers of Elder102

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hood known for tackling big community problems would transform cultural expectations of aging.

Senior living is evolving and pockets of true innovation exist—but the industry remains largely focused on providing services and care.

L E V E R AG I N G C H A N G E

There’s more support than ever before to reframe or reclaim your aging experience! Positive aging movements such as Growing Bolder are igniting change—and taking personal responsibility for what you’re thinking, saying and doing about aging well leverages that change.

Visit kayvannorman.com for the 10-point Ageism Questionnaire and other downloadable resources to help you create and activate your personal vitality plan.

Kay Van Norman, president of Brilliant Aging, is an internationally known author, writer and thought leader in healthy aging. Her passion is uncovering hidden barriers so that people can move from intending to age well into taking actions that will help ensure that they age well.

Other passions are dancing and horseback riding. Kay created the Vitality Portfolio® model for making a vitality plan, balancing wellness, core, and functional assets, and making regular deposits for lifelong health. Visit kayvannorman.com for more information.

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BREAKING BARRIERS

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

Debbie Allen has overcome sexism, racism and ageism to become one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood.

When Debbie Allen was 12, she was denied admission to the Houston Ballet Academy because of the color of her skin. Several years later, her application to a major university dance academy was rejected because her body was “unsuited” for ballet—a comment commonly used in years past to discourage African-America dancers.

Fast forward 55 years. Now Allen is a legendary choreographer, actress, director, producer and one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood.

Her many awards include three Emmys, a Golden Globe, five NAACP Image Awards, an Astaire Award for Best Dancer and the prestigious Olivier Theater Award.

Courtesy of Debbie Allen

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

She holds four honorary doctoral degrees, was appointed by President George W. Bush as a U.S. cultural ambassador, has been an artist in residence at the Kennedy Center for more than 15 years and has choreographed the televised Academy Awards ceremony 10 times.

Despite her many accomplishments, Allen tells Growing Bolder that her greatest pleasure and greatest satisfaction has come from mentoring young people at her non-profit Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

“I consider the academy to be my true legacy”, she says. “Dance gave me the discipline, focus and persistence needed to overcome rejection and succeed in any endeavor. I want to pass that on.”

In a time when public funding for arts programs is slipping, Allen believes that nothing less than the future of our country is at stake.

“America’s leadership is born on innovation,” she says. “There’s nothing like the arts to bring confidence and creativity. I’m totally convinced that if we don’t nurture the creative spirit in our young people, we’ll not maintain that leadership.”

What’s being taught at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy is far more than just pas de bourrés and pirouettes.

“It’s character education,” Allen says. “Dance gives you a sense of discipline. It helps you understand and accept criticism while moving forward. It gives you a sense of yourself, and is a true connection to the emotional spine that we need as human beings.”

Allen’s big break came in 1982 with the TV show Fame, in which she was both a star and choreographer.

She has also appeared in TV shows ranging from The Love Boat, to Grey’s Anatomy, and has directed or produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Ties, Jane the Virgin, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Empire, Everybody Hates Chris and countless others.

She’s especially proud to have directed A Different World, the influential sitcom that aired from 1987 to 1993. The program, about African-Americans in college, confronted issues of race and inspired millions of people, of all colors, to go to college.

Despite her remarkable success, nothing has come easy for Allen. She has had to overcome both the sexism and racism prevalent in her industry.

When she started her directing career in the early ‘80’s with an episode of Fame, there were very few women working behind the camera—and no black, female directors. “There were many, many times when

I was the only woman on the set,” she recalls. “There were many times when I was the only black person on the set.”

Now, at the age of 68, in addition to sexism and racism, Allen encounters ageism. A graceful warrior who has overcome one prejudice after another, Allen is not about to back down from this one. “I respond to challenge with passion, persistence and energy,” she says.

One of Allen’s most exciting collaborations began in 2011, when she was hired to play Dr. Catherine Avery on Grey’s Anatomy and became part of ShondaLand, which is the name of the production company owned by creator, producer and head writer Shonda Rhimes— who is herself a trail-blazing woman of color.

Allen’s acting stint led to the opportunity to direct the series. Now she serves as executive producer. “It’s amazing,” Allen says of working with Rhimes, who also created Private Practice and Scandal.

“Shonda is a great storyteller and an incredible human being who reaches across aisles and barriers and boundaries to give more opportunity,” she adds.

“I’ve hired more women to direct Grey’s Anatomy than any other show on TV. So, I feel really good about that.”

One of Allen’s current passion projects is Freeze Frame, a musical about young people in the inner city and their struggles with gun violence. “It’s an incredible, interactive theater piece that can help bring communities together and heal the divide,” she says.

Allen doesn’t think about the future, and won’t venture an opinion about what she’ll be doing in her 80’s or 90’s. “It’s all about the here and now,” she says. “I have no intention of slowing down and resting on my laurels, because there’s so much more to do. To make things happen you must believe in yourself, and you must continue working to expand your talent and your technique. There’s always something else you can learn.

I’m still a student—and that’s what makes a difference.”

There’s always something else you can learn. I’m still a student—and that’s what makes a difference.

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AGE PROOF YOUR MONEY

BY M A RC M I D D L E TO N

Extra years of enjoyable life should be considered a major goal and one of life’s greatest blessings—but without sufficient resources to adequately fund a longer life, that additional time may be filled with heartbreak and financial disaster.

Actuaries are now calculating what they call "longevity risk,” the very real and rising risk of outliving your money. Longevity is now the single biggest risk to your financial future.

That’s the longevity paradox: The thing that we most aspire to in the future—longevity—is, in fact, the greatest threat to that future. Of course, part of the answer is to plan, save, invest and reduce spending.

But the true solution to the longevity paradox is found in the health-wealth connection.

Jean Chatzky is the financial editor for NBC’s Today, a best-selling author, and an expert on the health-wealth connection. Her latest book, Age Proof: Living Longer Without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip, addresses the greatest fear of all baby boomers—a fear that outstrips even death itself.

“Running out of money before running out of time.” Chatzky tells Growing Bolder. “And it’s a very real possibility—especially when you look at longevity and realize that retirement can last 30 or 35 years.

Sometimes, it can last even longer.”

Rapidly rising healthcare costs are the most serious threat to our financial futures and they will continue to rise in decades ahead. “More than 80 percent of our healthcare dollars go to caring for preventable chronic diseases,” Chatzky says. “And lack of exercise is the primary cause of chronic diseases.”

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Chatzky is among the growing number of financial experts who believe that the No. 1 investment that you can make is an investment that won’t cost you a cent and will provide the greatest overall returns in the decades ahead. That investment is regular exercise.

“If you can reduce your chances of getting a chronic disease, then you can decrease your future healthcare costs,” she says. “Exercise is the key.”

That’s the health-wealth connection. You can’t improve your overall health and wellness without also improving your overall financial health. The two are inextricably linked. All the money in the world can’t buy you good health, but good health can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

“If you can reduce your chances of getting a chronic disease, then you can decrease your future healthcare costs,” she says. “Exercise is the key.”

Before we end our interview, Chatzky offers one more unusual investment tip. “Invest in relationships,” she advises. “We’re all looking for a little more purpose and satisfaction, and we find that through our relationships with other people. We find it through doing work that we feel is meaningful and important.

Overall wellbeing doesn’t come from things. It comes from relationships.”

Don’t ever say that you can’t afford to invest in your future. We all have the ability to leverage the health-wealth connection.

T H E H E A LT H - W E A LT H C O N N E C T I O N

Three Questions That Can Predict Future Quality Of Life

BY J O S E PH F. CO U G H L I N , Ph . D. D I R E C TO R , M I T AG E L A B

MIT AgeLab has identified three simple questions you should ask yourself to assess how prepared you are to live well in retirement.

What do these questions have to do with retirement planning? A lot more than you may think. They actually uncover important factors that will determine your future quality of life and serve as a starting point for planning a satisfying retirement.

When it comes to retirement planning, we’re inclined to focus on accumulating assets and making sure we spend our money wisely. But while our biggest fear may be outliving our wealth, there’s an even greater risk of: • Losing our independence due to ailing health; • Being unable to access the big and small things that make us happy, and • Facing a decline in the number of friends in our social network.

Planning for these contingencies is an integral part of preparing to live longer, better. Your financial advisor should integrate these issues into a comprehensive planning discussion to make an ambiguous retirement future—often decades away—more tangible to you. This can help you commit to preparing for your retirement today.

I N S I G H T S F R O M H A R T FO R D F U N D S

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Who will change my light bulbs?

This sounds mundane and simple enough—but is it?

If your father is 85—even if he is in good shape—do you want him on a ladder changing light bulbs? How about your mom living alone and maintaining her home well into her eighth and ninth decade? Given that the baby boomers had fewer children and have the highest divorce rates in history, help at home may be in short supply. Now think about your own retirement years. Changing light bulbs is more than an issue of long-term home maintenance.

It is a question that asks, “Do I have a plan of how to maintain my home?” When younger, most of us take for granted our ability to do daily house cleaning, maintenance and basic repairs—even home modifications. However, identifying the costs as well as the trusted service providers necessary to maintain our home may be as critical to aging independently as the health of our retirement savings.

How will I get an ice cream cone?

Joseph F. Coughlin, Ph.D. is Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. His research examines how the disruptive demographics of an aging society, social trends and technology will shape future innovations in business and government. Coughlin teaches in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning as well as Sloan School of Management Advanced Management Program.

Coughlin is frequently interviewed by the Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Straights Times and other business and technology publications.

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The MIT AgeLab was created in 1999 to invent new ideas and creatively translate technologies into practical solutions that improve people’s health and enable them to “do things” throughout the lifespan.

Based within MIT’s School of Engineering’s Engineering Systems Division, the AgeLab applies consumer-centered systems thinking to understand the challenges and opportunities of longevity and emerging generational lifestyles to catalyze innovation across business markets. The MIT AgeLab provides insights to Hartford Funds about consumer behavior and decision-making, and trends in demographics, technology, and lifestyles. These trends impact the way people do business with financial-services providers.

Lunch is more than a meal—it’s an occasion. Who you have lunch with may be a good indicator of your social network. This is not the social network of “friends” you have online, but friends you see on a regular basis—people who help reinforce a healthy and active lifestyle, and who you and your significant other can depend upon.

Who will I have lunch with?

Even with adequate finances, living alone without a robust circle of social support can threaten healthy aging. Today, more than 40% of women over 65 years old live alone in the United States. Consequently, planning where, and with whom to retire may be as important as how much it will cost. For example, a home in the mountains may be alluring as you approach retirement, but it may lead to an inadequate network of friends, or complete isolation during old age.

The baby boomers are facing a different retirement than their parents.

They’re more likely to live alone, to have fewer children, and to live in suburban and rural locations that may not provide easy access to active and livable communities.

Imagine it is a hot summer night—a perfect night for getting an ice cream cone... preferably chocolate.

Quality of life is about being able to easily and routinely access those little experiences that bring a smile.

While getting an ice cream cone when you want it is not a financial strain for most, the capacity to have that cone on demand does raise questions such as, “Do I have adequate transportation to go where I want when I want?”

If driving is no longer possible, “Are there seamless alternatives that enable me to make the trips that I want—not just those I need?” Moreover, “Will I age in a community where there are ample activities and people to keep me engaged, active, and having fun."

“RETIREMENT PL ANNING MUST GO BEYOND MONEY ALONE ...”

Effective planning must be about more than financial security. The new face of retirement planning must go beyond money, and adopt an integrated and holistic approach to helping people like you prepare to live longer and well.

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N O T F D I C I N S U R E D • M AY L O S E VA L U E • N O B A N K G UA R A N T E E

The MIT AgeLab is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Hartford Funds.

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BETTER THAN EVER

BY D I C K VA N DY K E A N D C A R L R E I N E R Photo by Andy Gotts 110

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THE TAKEAWAY

Carl Reiner

Dick Van Dyke

A legend of American comedy who has won 12 Emmys as a writer, producer and performer, 96-yearold Carl Reiner has called the last five years the most productive of his life.

One of the most beloved television stars in history, Dick Van Dyke, 92, has won a Tony award and five Emmys and authored five books, including Keep Moving and Other Tips and Truths about Aging.

As long as your mind is healthy and you have something to contribute, the number of years that you’ve been on this earth should be seen as an asset, not a detriment. Contrary to what you may think, genes have little to do with how long you’ll live.

Neither of my parents lived as long as me, but for some reason I’m hanging in there.

You’ve got to want to be a part of the living. I get up every day and check the obits. If I’m not in there, I eat breakfast and go right to the computer. I can’t wait to see what interesting things I’ll get to do next.

Thank goodness for tweeting. It’s fascinating to me that I’m able to float out my opinions and my thoughts, many of them political, and see how others react.

It’s very heartening to be politically active and in the mix at my age. I wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times imploring Supreme Court Justice Kennedy not to retire, and got thousands of reactions.

I don't have many friends left, but Mel Brooks comes over almost every night and we eat dinner and watch Jeopardy! I used to walk around the block and had to stop, so now I get on the treadmill and then the stationary bike for 10 minutes every day.

I think the most important thing for anyone is to have something to do when you get up that you can always look forward to.

So many young people today say they’d rather die than get old, and it’s just so sad. We’ve got to change the whole culture that centers on being young, pretty and rich. Get rid of those voices in your head that tell you that you’re too old to do something new.

We have to keep that childlike wonder about life alive. I’m an amateur computer animator. I create 3D animations on my computer, which is a really involving kind of a hobby.

What’s my takeaway? Just keep moving! People throw in the towel and stop doing anything, and that’s when they start to seize up. I tell everybody that moving makes you feel better. Make it your habit to move and you’ll be amazed! I’ve seen 90-year-old guys get off their walkers who didn’t believe that they could do it.

I get on the treadmill for as long as it feels right.

Then I do some resistance and strength training with weights. I’ve had arthritis since I was 40 years old, but it doesn’t bother me because I stretch and I move every day.

The main thing is to get on your feet and get interested in something. Be aware of the mind-body connection, because a little blood and oxygen through your brain will change the way you think. And without exercise, you can’t do it.

T H E TA K E AWAY

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GROWING BOLDER Barbara Hannah Grufferman is a nationally recognized expert on being fit and fabulous after 50 and a role model for positive, healthy aging.

She’s the best-selling author of The Best of Everything After 50 and Love Your Age. She’s a frequent contributor to Huffington Post and AARP and has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, NPR, Dr. Oz and Growing Bolder. She is the proud mother of two daughters and lives in New York City with her husband of 25 years and their rescue dog. Now 61, she discovered her passion for running at 50 and has since completed five marathons, one ultramarathon and dozens of 5ks, 10ks and half marathons. Barbara travels the country speaking about the possibilities and opportunities that come with age.

1 DANCING WITH MY DAUGHTER

My husband snapped this photo in that perfect moment when my youngest daughter and I heard music coming from somewhere along NYC's Highline and we simultaneously started to dance. I love the all-white outfit with the pop of color from my turquoise blue bag. Totally summer and carefree.

2 FITTING ROOM PHOTO

I was trying to decide whether to buy another pair of Mother jeans, so took this selfie with my iPhone so I could look, and decide. Yes, I bought them!

These jeans have become my favorite and this outfit is my typical casual go-to during the day: jeans, cashmere sweater, short bomber jacket and Allbird shoes!

3 LIVE WITH KELLY & RYAN

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I appeared on Live with Kelly & Ryan shortly after my book launched and wore this simple but terrific dress from Hugo Boss. This is a photo of me waiting to go on live TV. It has elbowlength sleeves, falls right to the knee, and is fits well without being tight. I paired it with nude fishnets and nude pumps. Perfect! Love this dress and wish I had it in every color!

4 POWER POSE

Wearing my favorite leather jacket always makes me feel powerful and in control, and this photo was taken on our balcony, just when the sun was starting to set.

5 RUNNING WITH A MESSAGE

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I started running when I turned 50 and am now training for my 6th marathon.

One of my big goals in life is to make everyone feel proud of their age, so I had this message put on one of my favorite running shirts (it also happens to be the name of my book!).

ST YLE

Someday Starts Today

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At Florida Hospital Apopka, we’re proud to offer expanded cardiac services close to home. With a new diagnostic cath lab. With some of the area’s top specialists. And with as much focus on prevention as on treatment. Good news: you don’t have to wait.

It starts today, at the new Florida Hospital Apopka.

Discover how at SomedayStartsToday.com.

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The best education in the world?

That’d be the world.

Adventures by Disney® can show you the world in ways you’ve never thought possible.

We’re a leader in guided group family travel, with active itineraries and VIP access throughout Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and the Americas.

Visit AdventuresByDisney.com or contact your local Travel Agent. facebook.com/AdventuresByDisney

Machu Picchu, Peru

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