Aging gratefully

I've got a birthday coming up....my 53rd.  I'm glad to be here and happy to have had so many great years and looking forward to (lots) more.  My mother will turn 86 two days after my birthday, so the odds are good.  I'm not worried about aging.  Not depressed. I just want to age gracefully and enjoy reasonably good health.

But in thinking about it, I don't know what it means to age gracefully.  I have this idea that it means I grow more mellow and tolerant and develop an ability to adapt.  I'm not sure that I have it in me to become more graceful with age, but I like the prospect of becoming more adaptable.  In fact, I think the key to longevity is adaptability.  Dwelling on what was, what could have been, what was lost or missed, is a sure-fire way to kill a spirit. 

But of course I'm looking at this from my 53-year-old perspective.  It's easy to say this is what I expect and what I intend when I'm not coming from a challenged position.  I wonder how I'll be when I am challenged and am up against bigger obstacles and setbacks than I've met so far.  Hmmm....  I guess then it will be put up or shut up time.

I wonder if I'm naive, but sometimes that can serve a purpose too.  If I was too world-wise I would probably also stress out because I would have so much to worry about.  I always say it was to my family's advantage I was young and stupid when I had kids because if I know too much I worry more.  Perhaps that will be my approach to aging too.  Stupidity.  Sounds like a plan.