Many of us scoff at the so-called Golden Years. What is so golden about growing older, we wonder?

Bodies break down. Skin gets wrinkled. Muscles get flabby. Fat gets wider. Breasts get saggy. Minds get forgetful. And temperaments get grouchy.

We think that age just happens. Aging is completely out of our control and our only recourse is to just hunker down, grow tough and tougher, and take the punishment, called age, as it is dealt to us.

We ignore, conveniently at the moment, the common sense fact that what we do right now ultimately determines whether we are granted to gift of age and the gifts that can come with ageactivity, wisdom, grace, joy, and inner peace.

Are we exercising every day? Are we eating a diet filled with health-supporting and life-giving foods? How many toxins do we mindlessly consume that deplete our bodies and deprive us of years?

Ah, we cry. It takes too much time to exercise and to figure out what to eat to keep us healthy, fit, and long-lived.

Exercise and eating the proper foods do not take time; they give us timewhen it counts, at the end of our lives.

What can we sow now to reap the gold from our golden years?

We can make day-to-day food and lifestyle choices that will add life to our years and years to our lives.

We can choose to load our diets up with fresh, whole fruits and vegetables.

We can choose to exercise every day for one hourno, not every other day for 30 minutesevery day for 60 minutes.

We can choose to eliminate toxic foods and non-foods from our diets, like refined and processed foods, man-made foods, added oils and fats, pop, coffee, and alcohol.

We can become more and more aware and consciously choose those foods and habits that will make our older years like they are meant to begolden with radiant health, fitness, activity, and comfort.