Somebody famous once said that we don’t stop playing because we get older but rather, we get older because we stop playing. This can be carried over to the need for most people to stay busy on either a physical or mental level, for the most part. Sitting around and brooding about regrets just illustrates the fact that it’s better to stay busy or begin rusting, for most people.

What this means is that people aren’t actually rusting from the inside — though the phenomenon of oxidative damage, brought on by free radicals in the body — exists. No, what this means is that people who don’t engage their minds or bodies where both really do enjoy life more and enjoy more of it for a lot longer. If that isn’t enough motivation, it’s difficult to figure out what else would be.

Another effective way to engage at least the mind is to try to think up ways — given that this is the Internet age — to [1] make money online that are both legitimate and legal. The single most effective way for most average people is to start a blog, grow and develop it and then began attracting visitors to it. At the least, it’s been proven that such activity can keep even the most elderly in fine mental fitness.

All of this is more about the point of people keeping the focus on moving and not, ever, stopping. This doesn’t mean literally, because everybody needs rest, but the famous picture Satchel Paige, who probably pitched a major-league game while he was in his 50s or 60s, observed that he never looked behind him because he didn’t want to know who was trying to catch up to him. That’s a good philosophy to have.

Another effective way to occupy and engage the mind along with the body, and certain ways, is head over to the music store and pick out an instrument and learn to play it. Something like an [2] Alvarez acoustic guitar can work well, and it’s a way to develop hand-eye coordination, to boot. This very useful instrument will deliver many hours of enjoyment, if it’s given the chance to do so.

One way of really staying busy is to think about cleaning the house out and getting rid of the accumulated years of clutter. At one point, that old [3] black helmet sitting under the kitchen table went well with a motorcycle that was sold decades ago, but now it’s just gathering dust. Put it away or clean it up and mount it in a trophy case, maybe.

It’s vital for people who wish to stay mentally and physically fit to understand that living a longer and more fruitful life requires getting busy living and staying busy living. Certainly, it’s the case as well that chronological age is no impediment to such a plan any longer. Try to stay out of the rocking chair, and most especially stay out of it if the rocking chair is expecting decades of use.