Older People

We played golf early again today before the temperature hit or was close to 100 degrees for the 9^th consecutive day. When one of our foursome had difficulty coming up with a name, he told us it was only nouns that taxed his memory; people, places and things. He said he had no problem coming up with the adjectives or adverbs, it was just the nouns. We realized that was true for most of us. Then this evening I read an article in the current Smithsonian Magazine on Senior Moments and the good news that researchers are discovering some surprising good news about growing old. The article cited examples of people being able to deal with social conflicts more effectively and were able to better manage their emotions. Older people are not as inclined to agonize over their losses to the extent of younger people nor compound the problem by doubling-down in an attempt to overcome them. Surveys have show that stress levels drop off considerably by age 70 and people are generally happier than in their younger years, etc. Research has shown that the negative stereotype of older people is typically incorrect. I can buy that, even with the problems with my nouns and a couple other things.