Follow your highest hopes and dreams. Strangely enough, researchers who investigate longevity are finding old age can be a peak period for more, not less, creativity. “We always think of winding down in old age,” says Judith Salerno, Britain’s deputy director for the National Institute on Aging. “We need to begin thinking about late life as an opportunity for people to explore.”

So in the years that used to be considered old age and dotage, now we see experience as an incalculably rich resource. Don’t settle for a shut-down life where the resources of youth are just vain memories; tap your rich experience, whether through art, invention, social service, or transformation of the environment. A higher number of age will only mean you can realise your highest potential and new develop talents.

Whether your gift is to be a writer, painter, actor, or a healer of personal relationships, you need to devote time to it every day. “But I can’t do it,” people say, “it’s too big!” So just try breaking your larger projects into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Don’t try to write the whole novel or you will clam up. Maybe today you will just write one paragraph or carve one lock of hair onto your sculpture, but that will unlock your greater resources. Over time, a power coming from deep within you will fill in the blanks, making the universe — and yourself — richer, more beautiful, and full of the wealth of creative life that has no age. — Beliefnet.com (Concluded)