In reality, to be able to live to a 100 years old is probably not as difficult as it sounds. To be able to live to 100 years old and still be fit and able to enjoy life, now that is the tough one ! A friend of mine once told me that he is basically here for a good time, and not for a long time. I kind of agree with him on that.

There is a lot that can be said about aging , but for today, I would like to share with you some possible longevity secrets, for those of you who feel that their application to the 100+ club is still pending approval :

1. Keep cool
Some days, I think that with the kind of stress level I am experiencing at work and having to deal with the constant ribbings I get from people in my life, if I can live till 70, I should be doing the whoopee dance of joy, if I can still dance by then, that is !

High blood pressure is a known side effect of a stressful lifestyle. So the idea here is, keep calm when dealing with problems in life. I know it's  easier said than done, as when you are in the midst of a difficult situation, it always seem like a dark tunnel with no way out. However, according to Newton’s law of physics “what goes up has to come down” and so similarly, when it seems like you have hit rock bottom, there is usually no where else to go but up.

Be persistent, keep calm, don’t blow a gasket and have faith.

2. Have the right attitude to life

Talking about faith, there is a serenity prayer written by a certain Reinhold Niebuhr which pretty much says it all : “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” For those of us who are Christians, there is always the trusty Proverbs 3, 5-6 which says :”Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.”

Of course that is not to say that you should just sit still in one place and expect to be hit by a sudden sack of falling money ! Trust me, that’s not going to happen ! Bill Gates certainly did not have the computer operating system fall into his lap overnight. More likely, it was a series of trust, faith and persistence for him. When the going gets tough, it is nice  to be able to let go for the burden, even if its just for awhile and just be able to say “Guess what, I have tried my best, now to leave it to fate and faith.  Besides, the game of life is a long running one, and if our objective is to be in it for a long haul, then we do have to learn to pick our battles and conserve our energy for another day.  Hence, to be resilient and stay adaptable in the face of challenging times, that would be the key to long-term survival. 

3. Get up and go, go go
If and when you do fall, sit and nurse your wounds for awhile. Afterall, you did suffer a boo boo, so take time to acknowledge that you have fallen. But take heart in knowing that everyone has experienced spills in their life ! Look at Beyonce and Miss USA 2007. They have fallen as well and in front of millions, nevertheless ! But do they just sit on their bruised tooshies and start kicking their feets and start fretting. No, the show must go on !

So never look back and  get a move on ! You cannot change what has happen in the past, but you can still change the present and the future. So once you have stopped fretting about the past, that’s when you should be able to move on to the present and focus on the future.

4. Share your life
Statistics has always said that having friends and family would help you prolong your life. I know, sometimes, it feels that they are the reason for your life being shorten ! Everyone has had their fair share of moments when friends and family drive you up the wall. But like I have always told a certain someone, its only because we care about them that we actually bother to be flustered ! Blood is thicker than water and true friends are a rare God-sent . So their role in your life is not to be slighted or taken lightly. When you need someone to talk to, a listening ear or just someone to have a good time with, they are always there for you, rooting for you. And sometimes, they might even help to come up with solutions with your problems in life. So go on, call on your life-savers when you need them. Afterall, life best moments is best shared with others and not kept to one self.

5. Eat right

You know what they say, garbage in, garbage out ! You are what you eat. Therefore, always try to have a healthy appetite but eat right and eat simple. Avoid excessive meat intake and eat a good portion of greens. Have the occasional drink if you so desire. Studies have shown that an occasional glass of wine or drink might help to boost your blood circulation. But do note that the key word here is occasional. Everything in moderation as they used to say. Too much of a good thing never did anyone any good. So go easy on the food intake and you might find yourself with that extra year or 2.

6. Exercise

At one point in time, I was alittle skeptical about this one, as I had come across several cases of people who had collapsed while exercising. Hence instead of prolonging their life, it seems to have shorten it ! But generally, I have to agree that in order to live long, you need to have a certain amount of exercise to keep the old heart clock ticking in good rhythm.

Rule of thumb is, if you are a newbie to exercise, always start with non-strenuous exercise like light walks and gradually build up your stamina. If you have decided to take on some serious heavy cardio exercises, like marathons, long distant runs or gym workouts,  do make sure that you have done your necessary warm-ups and also ensure that you are doing it with good supervision around, for even the best exercise, when done wrongly could do you more harm than good.

Key thing here is to enjoy the exercise routine and embrace the good endorphin post-workout rush.

After all that is said and done, the quality of one’s life in a way should be more important than the quantity. So in truth, whether you do eventually live to 100 or 60 is not important. What is important though is that you are enjoying life now and leaving behind a slew of great memories with no regrets. That to me, is a life well lived.

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