What’s old? More precisely, what’s normal aging? Is it frailty and forgetfulness? Is it constant confusion? Unrelenting pain? Maybe you envision disease, dependency and a likely death in your late 70s. Nope. That’s not normal aging.

Normal aging is less about age and more about opportunity. For example, "old" increasingly means living to 100 years or beyond. The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that there could be a million centenarians by 2050. The fastest growing population group is over age 85.

Old doesn’t automatically mean disease and disability, either. The number of disabled older adults is actually falling, but there’s concern that unless we aging adults step up and change some of our behaviors, it will skyrocket. For example, in 1982, 24 percent of Americans 65 and older had a significant chronic disability. By 1994, that number had fallen to 21 percent. Experts are finding disability can be reduced, even at advanced ages. But there’s no magic in that — it takes personal action, planning and individual attention to reduce risky behaviors.

The National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health, has put together an online quiz examining how "intelligent’ we are about aging. The intention is to "dispel myths and spread facts about healthy aging" and lay before us the opportunity to "age well."

You can check out the quiz by going to the newly conceived Web site at www.niapublications.org/quiz. Here’s how it works: You read through a list of scenarios about the aging process and answer a series of questions. Many of the questions are extremely straightforward and the answers are almost obvious. Others are less so. All the answers come with specific age-related details. For example, you learn the prevalence of cancer in people over age 65 and the likelihood of losing your driving privileges because of age-related issues.

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This little test is chock full of things to know about "normal" aging. It talks about osteoporosis in men and later-life depression in women. I was pleased to find a question on grumpy old men that indicated the male personality is, indeed, one of life’s constants, but has occasionally been found to mellow with age. (Are you reading this, honey?) There was another question about whether you need more food or less food as you age (you need less, but it should be more nutrient-dense).

A not-so-grumpy old man (songwriter Eubie Blake), upon approaching his 100th birthday, said, "If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." He got it right. The data says we will indeed get "much older." Why not be better prepared?

As I age I am increasingly clearer about the priority I must place on tending to my body — physically, emotionally and spiritually. After all, I only get one. I will start today. I will eat more fruits and vegetables, walk more frequently, take up strength training. And tomorrow, if I have not stayed the course, I will start again. And again the next day, if need be. Seize every opportunity. What’s the phrase? "Carpe diem."

(And yes, there will be a quiz.)

Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at s.johnson@oregonstate.edu.