I get a lot of "Barbara, how do you stay young" questions from younger people, and the interesting thing is that those asking don't usually want to know what it really takes. They ask out of mindless curiosity. I know they don't really want to know because during the relatively few years you have your youth it cons you into thinking you will have your current state of youthfulness forever. Old age is so far away you don't need to think about it. Wrong!

Youth is the ultimate con artist. It hangs around for about 30 years, leaving so slowly that you don't realize it's slipping away. It takes a lot of awareness to realize that fact. Very few people "get it." They don't understand what they need to do to prepare for the years after youth leaves. And because they don't get it, they age traditionally.

Bill Bullard said, "Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world."

Our society seems to admire highly opinionated people. People with strong opinions, stated with energy, come across as dynamic and knowledgeable. In a world where people spend a great deal of money on books and seminars about self-esteem, it makes sense that many would think this way. Additionally, the media encourages us to live on a diet of sensationalism; and this seems to lead us to the computer term: Garbage in, garbage out.

As two-year olds, "no" was our favorite word and we pronounced it with great confidence. What happened? As adults we take a two-week guilt trip every time we say it in any meaningful conversation. It's an important word to use, yet we avoid it like lima beans.

A big piece of the problem lies in the idea that saying "no" is not nice. When you get to be a big kid, you learn it's important to be nice. Nice trumps honest, fair, and reasonable once we move into adulthood. Nice can be deadly if you're doing too much.

Here are links I've found during April that you will find helpful. There's lots of interesting stuff -- take a look -- you never know what you will find that is useful. There is quite a bit of anti-aging news. What may be weeds to some, may be roses to others. . .

Somebody, please help me understand why Barbara Walters blabbed about having an affair with a married U.S. Senator 30 years ago.

What is wrong with that woman? Is this what fame does to you -- makes you think that others really care about the sordid details of how you live? What is particularly disturbing is that the cad in question, Senator Edward Brooke, is still alive. And worse, he has remarried and presumably his new wife had been unaware of the affair and has become a victim of Barbara's need for public catharsis.

I received this helpful information from subscriber Barbara Abernathy in Portland Oregon:

I enjoy your newsletter and I remember you asking for product reviews a while back. I've tried lots of skin care products that didn't seem to make any difference, but now I found something that works on those nasty vertical lines that form on the upper lip. I've been so frustrated trying to find some way to beat the feathering problem. I turned sixty this year and it's become a real problem to me. I hate having smeary "old lady" lips.

Everyone must deal with stress and how you deal with it determines how deadly it gets. I have always felt that stress that accompanies something you enjoy doing is good -- but it's stress none the less.

My friend C. Leslie Charles, a terrific, funny, insightful thinker, writer, author, speaker and all around Wonder Woman has written in collaboration with Mimi Donaldson, a book you must read, especially if stress is interfering with your ability to enjoy life. It's called "Bless Your Stress." Take a look at their Bless Your Stress website. You will indeed be blessed if you read the book.