By Nick Reiher

I can’t tell you how nice it is to have constant reminders of how old you are.

Because it isn’t.

On TV, we see commercials about emergency devices that allow family members to know when you’ve fallen, without even having to push a button.

Curiously, the daughter says she USED to get nervous when he climbed a ladder to clean the gutters by himself … before he started wearing the magic device. So, she’ll know when he’s lying out cold on the ground. But it makes him happy …

Speaking of life insurance, there’s a commercial portraying two older siblings talking about signing up, even though they have myriad medical issues. I guess not everyone has a spouse who signed me up as soon as we got married. (Wait a minute …)

These examples likely are my own fault. I rarely stream anything on TV. I like cable cooking shows, NCIS reruns and M*A*S*H reruns, mostly for mental popcorn, but, still. So … yeah.

The algorithms of Facebook have me pegged, too. “Name an old TV show kids today wouldn’t know …” “You’re older than Moses’ sandal buckle if you know what this is …”

“This” often being a roller skate key (I suppose they don’t know who Melanie is, either), a clothespin, an overhead projector or mimeograph machine (Miss that ink smell).

Then, there are the cheeky, by-cracky snipes at the younger generation: “How to confuse a youngster? Write in cursive. Let them try to drive stick.”

I will say once again, while I’m not that kind of doctor, I do not believe people are born knowing how to write in cursive and to drive stick.

Parents, and grandparents, who miss the days of getting’ a whoopin’ with a belt, shoe or wooden spoon might have wanted to concentrate on some of those life lessons instead. I mean, I guess they could have beat the hell out of their kids so they would learn faster, if it made them happy.

But, I digress.

I read a physician’s blog recently where he noted the patients he saw “aging gracefully” had one major thing in common: a positive attitude. One that embraced their memories and experiences, but didn’t dwell on them.

They kept busy … gardening, scrapbooking, traveling, golfing, whatever their circumstances allowed them to do.

They maintained a sense of purpose; not necessarily what their purpose had been, but new challenges and opportunities: volunteering, getting involved with clubs, staying social.

Focusing on what you can do, instead of what you can’t.

Honestly, it sounds a lot like how to get yourself out of a depression.

More so because the good doctor also suggests taking care of yourself physically, getting enough sleep, embracing a healthy diet, exercising to your ability and getting regular preventive check-ups, even before your “check engine” light starts flickering.

Among those Facebook “Remember the ‘60s and ‘70s” pages, the ones showing young women who wouldn’t have given me a second look sitting on a car I still can’t afford, I wrote:

“Cherish the memories, but make new ones now.”

Much as I may want to sit in my backyard and veg (or melt), I remind myself that my outlook is going to have a big impact on my well-being.

So, you know where you can put that roller skate key.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.