Life well spent is long
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
Longevity is defined as length or duration of life. An average person living in an industrialized nation may live to the age of 87.
If you want to live long then do the following:
1. Be an optimist that is a good way to be cheerful unless you are a golfer!
2. Approach life with a sense of humor there is always a funny side to any situation except when a golfer loses a ball in a water hazard. Laughter is the best medicine.
3. Give up on things which are stressful. Now, golfing should not be stressful if you listen to The Golf Guru in the Golf Digest, Golf is not about shooting a number, its an opportunity to live well.
4. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, three days a week. But you can do more. Every movement you make helps keep your muscles trim, melt some fat, and make you feel better.
5. Do things which challenge your brain regularly like writing a column for Medicine Hat News! Activities which are novel and complex prevent boredom. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young – Henry Ford (1863-1947).
6. Have a diet which keeps you lean. As somebody has said, if you wish to grow thinner then diminish your dinner. It was in the 1930s, that scientists showed underfed rodents lived up to 40 percent longer than their well-fed counterparts.
7. Do not smoke reasons should be obvious to most people who are in touch with the reality. For others, there is no hope. They would like to learn lessons the hard way.
8. Be involved in the community.
9. Wear a seat belt – motor vehicle collisions and other types of accidents kill and disable many of our young people. Drive carefully, and do not drink and drive.
10. Cut your consumption of alcohol alcohol is a calorie loaded drink with no nutritional value.
Important thing about longevity and staying healthy is to make good choices in life and reduce the risk factors genetic, environmental or lifestyle habits.
Many factors have contributed to our longevity – improvement in nutrition, public hygiene, and discovery of antibiotics, introduction of immunization programs, newer and better methods of understanding, diagnosing and treating many illnesses.
Now we seem to take life for granted especially in the industrialized and affluent countries we live in. Very few people die of infection or malnutrition. Instead we have an epidemic of obesity which leads to diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses and disabilities.
It is estimated that if you live up to 80, then the last 10 years of your life will be spent fighting some sort of disease or disability. This burden may be reduced if we take care of our health during our better days. Remember, a life well spent is long.
Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!