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    The elderly who find great rewards and satisfactions in their later lives are a small minorit.y in this country. But they do exist. They are the"aged elite".
    What is most striking about these people is their capacity for growth. When Arthur Rubinstein was eighty, someone told him that he was playing the piano better than ever. "I think so," he agreed. "Now I take chances I never took before. I used to be so much more careful. No wrong notes. Not too bold ideas. Now I let go and enjoy myself and to hell with everything except the music!'

    Another reason for the success of the aged elite are the traits they' have formed earlier in their lives. A sixty-eight-year-old woman, three times married and widowed , says , "It's not just what you do when you're past sixty-five.
It's what you did all your life that matters. If you've lived a full life, developed your mind, you'll be able to use it past sixty-five. Let the young people put that in their soup and eat it. "

    Along with frankness comes humor. A sense of humor, of course, is not something that suddenly arrives at age sixty-five. It is an aid people use all their lives to cope with tension. "Humor, " says Dr James Birren, noted psychologist, also leads you to join with other people. "

    The ability to associate with others is another trait of the aged elite. "There are two ways to deal with stress," says Birren. "You either reach out or withdraw. The reachers seek out other people to share their problems instead of pulling away. "
    Growing, active, humorous, sharing-these are all qualities that describe the aged elite.

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