Don’t Act your Age

“How old would I feel if I didn’t know how old I was?” The date on my birth certificate is February 1, 1953, yet I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to look or feel like at this age.

A fascinating study at Harvard explored this very idea. Researchers placed two groups of senior men in an environment designed to replicate their youth—complete with the clothes, furniture, music, cars, TV shows, and magazines from their younger years. One group was instructed to simply reminisce about their youth, while the other was told to act as if they were actually young again.

In just one week, remarkable changes occurred. Both groups showed improvements in strength and flexibility. However, the men who acted as though they were truly back in 1959 demonstrated significantly greater improvement. It was as if their bodies responded to the belief that they were younger. The study’s conclusion? “The aging process is indeed less fixed than most people think. Wherever you put the mind, the body will follow.” (Harvard Magazine)

We may not have a time machine to take us back, and honestly, shag carpeting, go-go boots, and miniskirts are probably best left in the past. But we can still “impersonate” our youth—not by escaping into nostalgia, but by rediscovering the things that once brought us joy.

Why not play, just for the fun of it?

Hopscotch or jacks, anyone?

Turn on the music you loved as a teenager and dance like no one’s watching.

How old would you feel cruising down the highway in a ’57 Chevy? Buy, borrow, or rent one for the day.

Remember parking? Take a drive with someone special, find a quiet spot, and park under the stars with the radio playing. (The backseats of cars aren’t as spacious as they used to be, so you may want to skip that part of the tradition!)