1. Believe longevity is possible.
2. Value and expand your support circle of family and friends.
3. Have a long-term goal and purpose.
4. Take on responsibility for others – a plant, a pet or an aging or infirm relative or friend.
5. Exercise consistently.
6. Eat well – learn about and avoid foods that are not good for you.
7. Do what you love. Be creative.
8. Learn a poem a week to exercise your memory.
9. Challenge yourself with new things.
Longevity is possible. In modern times Jeanne Calment died at 122 years old. She was the oldest woman on the planet. Lucille Randon died at 119, also in France. The oldest verified man was Jiroeman Kimura at 116 in Japan. However, there are stories and legends indicating that people can live and have lived longer.
If the Bible is to be believed, there were times when longevity was commonplace. Methuselah lived to be an old man – he begat Lamech at 187, and Lamech begat Noah at 182. Adam lived to be 930; some scholars believe this was possible due to a vapor canopy in the atmosphere. Noah lived to be 950, whereas Moses lived to be nearly 120 – the human lifespan mentioned in the Bible gradually diminished after the flood.
In his five plays George Bernard Shaw argued that longevity is possible and would give the humans the opportunity to be middle-aged in their 60s and much more ready and able to serve in public office. Unfortunately, he died falling out of an apple tree when he was in his 90s and did not live to see the promise of longevity become a reality.
When does a person start thinking that longevity is possible for them, beyond the senior years? A person who decides they want to live beyond 100 needs to decide the reason for their decision. It might be to watch their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up, but a more powerful reason is to also contribute to the world and to be an influential participant in its development. There needs to be a strong incentive to live a long life and the decision to live as long as we can is the first key to longevity.
If everyone lived to be over 100, the population of the Earth would grow even faster than it already has done and overpopulation would soon become a real problem and a growing headache for economists, food growers and urban designers. The Earth can support a limited number of people, but it is still unknown what that number is, as the population is still growing.
Joanna is a teacher, writer and consultant, and is editor-in-chief of the Kora Press publishing company – www.KoraPress.com – dedicated to publishing books with spiritual content. She is also co-founder of Energy Worlds with her partner David Price Francis.