In the past two months, my husband and I have attended three funerals.

Two of the deceased lived into their mid-90s and led active, fulfilling lives right up until the end.

These lovely women reminded me of my late grandmother. She made it to 95 and her sister, my great-aunt, lived to 100.

They, too, kept busy and were engaged with life for most of their final years.

Why do some people age with optimism and others make the natural process of aging appear to be a curse?

One senior gentleman tried to explain: "When you're old you can't do what you want to. It's no fun to give up everything you like."

But why does he have to?

How well we age has much to do with whether we consider our lives worth living for so many decades.

As we look around, we see many older adults who defy such pessimism and grow old with dignity and grace. They don't give up. They adapt.

Just as some older drivers realize their limitations and change their driving patterns accordingly, numerous older individuals adapt their lifestyles, as well.

My grandmother was a perfect example of such adaptation. She always loved to read and would stay up late into the night with a book too thrilling to set aside.

When macular degeneration robbed her of her sight, she did not give up this favorite pastime. She discovered audio books and sat enthralled for hours reading with her ears.

A great-aunt, who taught elementary school, always spent her summer vacations traveling. Each year she would journey for a month or more somewhere in Europe or Mexico or the Caribbean.

When she was beset with the infirmities of aging in her later years, her mobility was thwarted, but certainly not her enthusiasm for travel.

She became a passionate armchair traveler, attending travelogues, reading travel magazines, watching television documentaries on foreign lands and devouring the travel sections of major newspapers.

She did not give up a pastime she loved. She still traveled. Only her method of travel changed.

A retired professor friend in her 80s had to cut back on her endless roster of church activities because of health problems. Never one to quit, she quickly adapted and found other important ways of serving her beloved church.

She wrote articles for the newsletter and opened her home to visiting pastors and missionaries from distant lands.

Through one of her church's programs, but in her own home, she tutored new citizens in English as a second language.

She created new ways to remain closely involved with her cherished church activities.

Our attitude as we age can either aid us or hasten our demise. People who reach their late 80s and their 90s and 100s obviously are not quitters.

They adapt to life's changes and keep moving forward. They are resilient. They hold a positive outlook on life.

Chances are good that our current pleasures can remain a part of our lives in our golden years. We just might have to adapt the form.

When our bodies grow weaker, our minds can be used to provide us with creative solutions to new problems and limitations.

Slowing down is a lot more fun and rewarding than giving up.

As the old saying goes, we only live once.

But if we do it right, for as long as we breathe, once will be enough.