When I was 10 the idea of being 21 thrilled me. Why? Because then I could drink and vote. That would be perfection.
By the time I was 18 I could vote, and in some states drink. A perfect life came early for me. I didn’t really care what age I was after that because I’d reached my goal. By not caring about my age I didn’t suffer with any of those “big” birthdays people lament, they were just another excuse to celebrate something.
Somewhere along the line something changed. At some point I found myself telling people that I was going to live to be 100. I’d spun a fanciful story that after I was widowed (women always outlive men, and by living to that age I’d clearly outlive my husband) I was going to move to the south of France and let handsome young men bring me cheese, vegetables, and wine as I lay on the beach enjoying myself. There’s a motivation to live a long time!
The rational behind being able to live that long is that each generation in my family has outlived the previous generation, so it seemed only natural I’d outlive my parents — who are still alive and in their 90s. The desire to live that long comes from knowing there are so many adventures to experience (or cause) and so much to give the world that it’ll take at least that long to do everything I want.
Let me quickly state I’m not interested in living to be a 100 year old vegetable. The intention is to be a vital, productive, alert and agile person.
The older I get, though, the closer 100 gets. Well, yeah, that’s obvious. And the closer to 100 I get the realization of how much more there is to do! So, I bumped my desired age to 125. Smart, right?
That age worked well for me for several years. Then one day I noticed I was telling people I was going to live to be 150. Huh. Well, I knew if that had any chance of happening I had to change some of my evil ways.
Evil ways, in my case, refers to my exercise regime and eating habits. You have to be passionate about living a long, vital life to change your evil ways like that!
My outlook on life is already optimistic, upbeat, and positive, and those are important attributes to take through life, especially through a long life. That’s not enough to get me through that many years with my brain and body functioning at peak performance. I need more support to do that.
Long-lived people also eat well, move a lot, and socialize with others. I’m working on the diet. I’ve removed alcohol and see, as well as feel, a difference; my thinking is clearer, my energy is stronger, and my body feels healthier. I tend to eat mostly a plant-based, organic, whole-food diet with great satisfaction. And while I think I move a lot, the fitness-band I have tells me I can improve in that department. Part of my movement includes daily stretching, stationary bike riding (while watching a movie), and too-infrequent walks.
The lessons gleaned from studying Blue Zones, locations where people live longer than the average population, is that there are four primary similarities between the populations (there are more, but for this article I’ll stick to these points). They:
- move frequently and naturally; movement is part of their daily living, not some exercise program
- have a sense of purpose; they know why they get up every morning
- eat wisely; predominately a plant-based diet with restricted calories
- connect by putting their loved ones first, gathering with like-minded people (the birds of a feather idea), and have a spiritual practice in common with others.
I subscribe to those practices, at least in theory, and am working at improving my practice of those ways. Maybe I need to move to a Blue Zone community so I am with my tribe of long-lived people. That’ll be a fun discussion to have with my husband….