Wild yam, black cohosh and soy foods to ease menopause discomforts. Bilberry to protect against the macular degeneration that plagues others in my family. Glucosamine sulfate to help my arthritic joints. Gingko biloba to preserve my overtaxed memory. St. John’s wort to fight stress and to help me sleep. Echinacea when I feel a cold coming on. Weight lifting to preserve bone density. Exercise to keep depression at bay and lose that bothersome 20 pounds I’ve gathered over the past few years. Maybe I should increase my intake of vitamin E and other antioxidants….

Since I turned 50 last year (not more turning-50 angst, sigh those who are still having to listen to me whine about it, over a year later), our kitchen cupboard has begun to look like a supplement store and our bedroom to resemble a gym. And the three shelves of health books have recently taken over a fourth, which used to hold volumes of poetry. Some days I wonder if I’m much more than the sum of all these rather frantic efforts to stay healthy.

And I’m not alone. If the burgeoning supplement and exercise industries are any indication, a whole generation of baby boomers is obsessed with health.

One of the gifts (which is, at the same time, a peril, but that’s another story) of midlife is a new perspective on so many aspects of living. As happens so often now, the other day this new way of looking at the world stopped me in my tracks with some new questions. Are too many of us working too hard at being healthy? What are we afraid of? Am I having fun yet?

Have we given up too many of the things we used to enjoy in the name of health? Sure, we’ve helped create a whole new industry of self-help cures and natural home remedies (not to mention magazines like this one). But in our quest for wellness, are we in danger of copying the pathological focus on disease that characterizes the traditional medical establishment?

Don’t worry. My midlife angst isn’t telling me to suddenly become a pretzel popping couch potato! But as another year turns over on the calendar, I have resolved to stop worrying – not an easy task, since I come from a long line of frowning fretters.

I’ve decided that worrying too much about anything – including osteoporosis, cancer and cholesterol – can rob my life of vitality. And that is just not healthy! I trust that living optimistically, with pleasure, zest, and commitment will enrich if not lengthen my life.

Now, please excuse me while I go take my vitamin C capsule.