Stop Complaining by Garrison Keillor

Author and host of public radio's A Prairie Home Companion

When you hit 50, you have to stop complaining about getting old, the strangeness of it, the fascination, the horror, etc., etc. That was okay in your 30s and 40s, but now that you're old, it's time to shut up on the subject. You shouldn't complain about aging for the simple reason that nobody gives a hoot. If you were to pay people to care, they might care a little bit for an hour or two, but you didn't and they don't. So learn to be cheerful about it. When people ask you how you are, tell them, "Absolutely great. Never better."

By 50, everyone can stand to lose 20 pounds, so do it. The simplest way is to adopt a new philosophy of eating, which is revolutionary in America but which is essential for an older person: Eat to satisfy hunger; if you're not hungry, don't eat. Stop eating when your hunger is satisfied. Except on Sunday or whichever day is your feast day. As you get older, your metabolism changes, and now you can sustain yourself quite well on one meal per day and two snacks. So that's what you do.

Fifty is the time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Especially for the aging bohemian. A young person is allowed to dress up as Desperado, Punk Princess, Noir Poet or Frontiersman, but by the age of 50 you've wised up. You've seen how ratty those old ponytails can look. What was revolutionary at 21 can be rather stringy and pitiful at 50. What works for Willie Nelson doesn't necessarily work for you.

Put the past behind you. This is even easier to do at my age (63), but you can get a start at 50. Make a pile of your regrets and put a match to them and let them blow away—the lost loves, the estranged friends, the botched education, the unwritten novel, the neglected guitar, the ruinous investments, the dear friend who committed suicide, the opportunities that sailed away without you. Put that knapsack full of rocks on the ground and walk away and find something in the here-and-now that absorbs you and take up with that—a garden, a grandchild, a choir, yoga, knitting, amassing a collection of porcelain pigs, political agitation, learning the drop-thumb style of banjo.

Start telling the truth. Do it in small doses at first and then gradually build up to one out of three, a decent batting average. When you're young, you're scared; you're trying to wend your way through the trees and not get shot at; you're trying to stay on the warm side of the various big cheeses in your life; you're wanting to be the good guy who everybody loves, not the jerk with the big mouth. But when you hit 50, you're entering a new passage of life in which you can say what you really think.

You can also dare to express simple preference. Do you want to go over to the Swansons' for dinner? No, I don't. Why not? I thought you liked them. They complain constantly about aging, and I'm tired of looking at his hair. Oh. Okay. What would you rather do? Lie on a bed with you and talk and drink a little wine and listen to Frank Sinatra with the lights out. Oh. Okay.

Fifty is an excellent age for reform of all sorts. You have enough experience and good judgment to know something about yourself, and you can see the end of your life from here, and so, gauging your desires and your strength, you adjust and straighten and balance and alter what needs altering and press on. It's a time of marvels on every hand, great richness, emotional clarity, and great sweetness. Sixty is even better, but don't hurry.

Wear Comfortable Clothes by Diane von Furstenberg

Fashion designer

Since you are going to live in your own skin your whole life, the sooner you are comfortable with it, the better. As the years go by, you are the one who knows all your secrets, all your complexities. You know your experience. You may as well have a good relationship with yourself.

You may think 50 is old, but three years from now you will think it is young. That's one very positive aspect of thinking ahead.

Indulge Yourself in a Playground Fantasy

Luis Santeiro, Emmy Award-winning writer for Sesame Street

Turning 50 means the time has finally come to do that one thing you always said you wanted to do but never got around to doing.

In my case, that itching fantasy was to swing from a trapeze. I decided that the important thing was not that I was still agile enough, or insane enough, to do this at 50. It was that I still had some dreams left—and the drive to pursue them.

Jump Off a Bridge

Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness

It may not be the first idea you have when you turn 50, but I guarantee you it will be the best: Go jump off a bridge. I've come to the realization that most people don't jump off nearly enough bridges in their lifetimes. They stay on the safe side of the railing, doing comfortable things—that will turn out exactly as they envisioned. But once you crest 50, it's absolutely time to take a little leap. Or maybe a big one.

Buff Up Your Brain

Bill Beckwith, memory expert

Look at what you're currently doing for mental stimulation. If it's watching reality shows and reading People magazine, you're in trouble. You need to stretch your brain, continue learning, expose yourself to new experiences. These can be as minor as taking a new route to work every day and as major as returning to school for another degree. As simple as completing the daily crossword puzzle and as complex as learning a new language. How about a new hobby, like growing orchids or collecting wine?

Sit Still

Robert H. Schneider, M.D., authority on alternative health, aging and heart disease

Sitting quietly for 20 minutes relaxing your mind with transcendental meditation, or TM, the most studied form of meditation, can actually reverse the aging process. Over time, the numbers that determine your physiological age are systematically reduced, even as your chronological age increases.

Go Fishing

James Prosek, author of The Complete Angler

Some might say that 50 is too old to start fishing. That is not so. Fishing is a sport you can do at home or abroad, alone or with friends, anywhere there is water—and you'll discover so much more than what is at the end of your line.

Stop Obsessing About Your Flaws

Bobbi Brown, founder and CEO of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

Instead of stewing over your "flaws" and the things you don't like about yourself, look at what's right.

Be who you are. This means everything from learning to love the lines in your face to appreciating your own unique features. Facial lines are hard-earned proof that you've lived a rich, emotion-filled life. Take them all away and you end up looking like a blank, plastic-faced mannequin.

Adapted from Fifty Things to Do When You Turn Fifty (Ronnie Sellers Productions). Royalties from sales of the book are being donated to cancer charities.