Thinking your glass as half-full can kill you

National Public Radio had a story recently discussing research on how to live well and long. The story described Helen Reichert, a one-hundred-and-nine-year-old woman who lives at home, has all of her mental abilities, and likes chocolate truffles and Budweiser.

Her doctor, Mark Lachs, attributes her longevity, in part, to her "adaptive confidence".

Adaptive confidence describes one's ability to bounce back from life's stressful moments.

"You don't get to be 109 without life hurling a few curveballs at you, and Reichert has had more than her share: bereavement, gender discrimination, medical issues. And after each, she dusts herself off and moves on."

Adaptive confidence is positively associated with optimism. Optimists have been found to live more than 7 years longer than pessimists -- possibly due to their ability to recover from setbacks.

The lesson from this story is summarized by Dr. Levy who says, "So if you're a boomer and you don't think your outlook on aging has any impact on the rest of your life, you might want to brighten your attitude a bit."