But accepted it, work hard at it, and enjoyed the fruits of your labor. Dr. Scheibel agrees. It seems to me that when you finally decide it's time to stop what you're doing, you should have in mind some very exciting things that you want to do next. It stimulates not only brain activity but brain growth. Believe in Yourself Fred Warshofsky says other scientists who have tried to discover what successful agers have in common, echo the points made by Diamond and Scheibel.
Intellectual enrichment is good for the brain.
That doesn't mean that they feel invulnerable, however. They are accommodating to the inevitabilities of aging. But in the realms in which there is still something they can do, they go at it with a fighting spirit. After leaving school at 14 and working two jobs to put her children through college, she decided it was her turn. And somehow or another I never thought of my age, because I was always in good health.