It rather depends on what you mean by "ageing" and being "old". I have come across perfectly healthy people who have become so preoccupied with their fear of death - premature or otherwise - that much of their time is spent thinking and talking about cholesterol, blood pressure, aches, exercise, etc., etc., to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. Boy, oh, boy, are these people self-centered, boring and *OLD* (no matter what their chronological age may be) ! Living ceases to be an exciting and enjoyable process for them. Lively, positive people tend to avoid their company and they end up leading isolated lives or keeping company only with other people just like themselves, in a downward spiral. All this negativity may lead to their actually *becoming* ill and to premature ageing.

Then there are people who are the opposite (again, no matter what their chronological age). The other day, I was watching on You Tube a couple of interviews that Michael Parkinson had with that great (and then chronologically old) actress Edith Evans. She's well worth watching. I don't suppose for one moment that that lady ever gave a thought to how "old" she was. For me, she's an example of how having your own inner spirit (the "real" you, if you like) to the fore throughout your life makes physical or negative or chronological constraints pale into insignificance. That lady never grew old.

Here's one of her pieces of advice: "Don't worry. Just do your best. That's all you can do. If you do your best, good things will come."

When I don't grow old, I want to be like Edith Evans !

- jeanie