Angela Alexander could barely hold a paintbrush anymore.
The joint pain from rheumatoid arthritis had made pursuing her passion too painful.
Its taken me to a whole new level.
I take pain medications.
I have an insulin pump.
Ive had eye injections.
I do gentle exercise, get massages and go for walks with my dog, Ellie.
I work with a team of doctors.
And when I need to, I rest, she says.
Im blessed to have the tools I need.
I want to always paint.
It feeds my soul.
Were living life on our own terms: healthy and happy, with medical conditions.
Yet 77 to 83 percent gave their overall health top marks.
Can I still connect with and see my family?
says Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer for AARP.
Wisdom and experience give midlife and older adults an edge here, too.
Theres a certain amount of strength from dealing with past problems successfully.
This wellness paradox doesnt seem to be a matter of denial, or ignoring issues to feel better.
Kilimanjaro and jumped out of an airplane in the years since the procedure.
He has also become a heart-health advocate, sharing his story with local and national groups.
Acknowledging hed inherited his mothers familys genetic heart risks.
My mother and my sisterdied from heart diseaseand kidney disease.
My brother had a fatal stroke at age 52, he says.
Theres high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.
Taherbhai switched to a plant-based diet, with help from his wife, Nafisa, a vegetarian.
She also showed him how to meditate.
I had a key in A personality, everything under control, he says.
Meditation is just being in the now.
Your mind can take your body to places youve never heard of.
Getting older may have helped Taherbhai out as well.
Research shows that optimism and resilience the ability to bounce back quickly from a setback increase with age.
We just need to get up, dust ourselves off and keep on moving.
We learn not to fear failure.
Still, accepting that you have a chronic health condition and need treatment isnt always easy, Kleppe notes.
It has to be done with a good dose of self-compassion.
Same goes for the inevitable setbacks along the way.
This can feel defeating, but it comes back to perseverance and resilience.
Seeing it as an obstacle, not a failure.
Going back to your plan with a whole lot of compassion.
And making time with Nafisa to tend the purple peppers, tomatoes and squash in their sprawling backyard garden.
