Feel Younger After 60, Without a Gym Membership or a Crazy Diet

1. The friendship habit. What to do if your circle has gotten smaller over the years. (If you need new friends, I'll help you find some.)

2. The creative habit. Knitting, painting, blogging, even building web pages. Why making something feels so good at our age.

3. The smart-fix habit. Healthy ways to handle the little aches and changes that pop up, plus the warning signs that mean skip the remedies and get help now.

4. The easy-eating habit. Simpler shopping, simpler cooking, and a "diet" that doesn't feel like one.

5. The gratitude habit. A tiny daily practice that changes how the whole day feels.

6. The sleep habit. Simple changes to your evening that can help you rest better.

7. The water habit. The connection between hydration and energy that most of us forget about by mid-afternoon.

Don't try all seven. Pick the one that makes you smile, and start there.

Growing up, I believed I had two choices: nurse or teacher. My mom was a nurse anesthetist and told plenty of interesting stories, but I didn't want to hold life-or-death situations in my hands. So I chose teaching.

After I retired early, I kept the books for all kinds of small businesses, worked part time as a bank teller, and in my younger years I was even an aide in a nursing home.

I've been married 45 years (my second time around!). Together we raised yours, mine and ours: three girls and a boy. Now we have 10 grandchildren we honestly don't see often enough.

I'm not a doctor, and I don't pretend to have it all figured out. I'm a retired teacher who believes the best learning comes when you teach someone else. So I write down what's working for me and share it with friends.

Wouldn't it be sweet if you were one of them?