Aging Longevity

Aging Longevity. Most of us want to live a long time. Few look forward to dying.

Researchers have been studying the question of 'what leads to a long life' for some time. The media has not picked up most of these studies yet.

You may find the results of scientific studies about Aging Longevity to be surprising.

If you ask your friends, "What influences how long a person lives?" you will get a variety of answers.

• Some say it's genetics. Your life span is in your genes. But recent studies show that when it comes to Aging longevity, your genetic inheritance only counts for about 20%. Your genes are a factor but they are not the main cause of your life span.
• Advertisers often give the impression that some food or special supplement makes for a long life. Direct mail marketing often includes stories about some far off land where people live well into their hundreds. And of course these people eat or take whatever supplement the advertiser is selling.

  But scientific studies do not agree that food or supplements are they most important factor in Aging longevity.

• What about exercise? There are all those books about the importance of exercise. "Get up, get moving and you will live a long time". Research has found that exercise IS a factor but there is something even more important than exercise.

So if it isn't genetics or food or supplements or exercise, what is it?

Attitude. Yes, attitude. Study after study shows that those with a what they call an "optimistic outlook" on life live the longest.

And this is true even among groups of people with serious, terminal illnesses. In studies of persons with severe illness those with what researchers call an 'optimistic outlook' outlast the others in the group.

Now, you may be thinking, "Just what do they mean by optimistic outlook?" Does it mean we need to disconnect from reality when things are tough? Should we be walking around saying, Everything is fine and it is going to be all right no matter what is happening."?

No. That is not what the research shows. What researchers define as 'dispositionally optimistic' is a particular way of responding to the circumstances of our lives....be those circumstances positive or negative.

It is NOT a 'happy go lucky - never a worry in the world attitude. In fact, the happy go lucky subjects did not live as long as those with dispositional optimism. Dispositional optimism is a way of viewing our lives and the events in them. It is often associated with something called 'resilience'.

Read more

• Since 'dispositional optimism' is so central to living a long life, you might want to read more about it at Dispositional Optimism: the key to Aging Longevity.
• Once you understand it, you will find Practical ways become a dispositional optimist if you are not one now

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