I JUST celebrated my 80th birthday. I like to remain as active as possible. I take a 30-minute walk every day, play golf once a week and see my grandsons at the weekend.

I also volunteer at a local charity shop. I consider myself in good health, even though I take medications for blood pressure, cholesterol and type II diabetes. I had a pace maker put in six months ago but I recovered well.

My children are more worried about me since then. They say I should slow down and take it easy. I appreciate their heartfelt concern and I don't want to worry them, but sometimes I feel like they make assumptions about how I should live. I have always believed in having a positive attitude towards life and doing as much as I can for as long as I can. But is that just wishful thinking?

RESILIENCE is of growing importance to successful ageing and is particularly pertinent in the consideration of older people's health and quality of life.

Resilience refers to the capacity to remain well, recover, or even thrive in the face of adversity. If successful ageing is a spectrum, frailty may be considered to be at the opposite extreme to resilience.

One trait that may be connected to resilience is 'positive affect'. Positive affect describes the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, active, and alert.

People who exhibit higher levels of positive affect are more energetic, experience better levels of concentration, and more pleasurable engagement in life, whereas low positive affect is characterised by sadness and lethargy.

The protective role of positive affect has been shown in relation to heart attack and stroke, and promotes successful recovery following hip-fracture surgery.

Evidence from medical and scientific literature also reveals that positive people are at a reduced risk of mobility problems, disability and frailty.

Those with a positive outlook on life may have reason to be positive as they appear physically healthier, financially more stable and socially more popular.

Perhaps the benefits of positive affect could be found in mental health outcomes.

Adults with high positive affect report greater psychological resilience than those with low positive affect or depressive symptoms.

They cope more successfully with stressful situations and feel in control of their lives. People with high positive affect are also more likely to engage in social relationships, such as meeting family and friends, joining community groups and volunteering.

This clearly underlines the central role of positive affect in successful ageing. Positive people tend to stay positive throughout their lives and this is good news for people like you.

Thus, promoting positive affect could contribute greatly to more successful ageing in general. There is growing support for the concept that happiness and positivity lead to successful outcomes and do not merely result from them.

So when it comes to successful ageing, and to answer your question; staying positive and doing as much as we can for as long as we can, is not just wishful thinking!

Dr Aisling O'Halloran, Research Fellow in Falls Prevention and Frailty, TRIL Clinic, St James's Hospital.

ageing@independent.ie

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