Longevity - living a long life.

Longevity varies by species. If you are a gardener, you know that some plants only last one year. (We call them annuals.) Pet owners know that their dogs, cats, rabbits or pot bellied pigs are likely to die before the human beings in the household. Every species has a longevity range...an age beyond which even the hardiest members do not survive.

When it comes to human beings there are many people who live past 100 years. So you may be wondering just how long can a human being live? What is possible for our life span?

I have been researching this question for some time and I have found that answers vary. But more and more researches are saying that living a vital life well past 100 years is very possible. Centenarians and Super Centenarians (those over 110 years) are on of the fastest growing segments of the population. It appears to be well within possibility to reach 120 years...some even say that 136 years is possible! And although those years may be exceptional, given the current state of things, it makes sense to think about seeing your 112th birthday.

In April 2009 I taught a class about "Ageless Aging". At the end of the Longevity session one participant came up and said, "I do not think I would want to live that long.". My quickresponse was, "well, then you won't". But I have been thinking about her comments for some time.

There is so little in our culture that supports meaningful work and warm friends for a long life span. So often people retire and then 'keep themselves busy'. They travel a bit, pursue a hobby or two, volunteer but they no longer has a 'life work' or consuming passion. Slowly they retire a bit more and when they give up driving, they often wait for the children to call on Sunday. Everyone expects that they need some help now.No one sees them a vital forces ....and the do not seem themselves that way either.

I recall my Aunt Amanda in her 90's telling me, "If I had to do it all over there is one thing I would do differently. I would work hard to develop friends among those younger than I. I did not do that and now I am the last one. The last in the family...the last in the neighborhood...the last from any of the organizations we belonged to."

My Aunt Amanda did me a great favor. She made me realize that we need to think ahead. It is one of the reasons why I built this web site.

The 'third age' - Longevity and Elderhood

Now look at what you got - If you are 60, you have 52 years. At age 70, you have 42 years. Goodness that is a lot of time! When you consider that from age 25 to age 65 is 40 years - the whole of our Adult Years. For many of us our Elderhood years (post Adult years) are as many or even more than our Adulthood! What will you do with them?

Think of all the preparation and planning that goes into 'What shall I do as an adult?". All that time spent in high school ...even college or graduate school preparing for Adulthood. All the time thinking about jobs and careers. . . acquiring skills - thinking about whether to get married or have children. So much preparation for Adulthood and for most people it only lasts about 40 years.

Longevity studies tell us that we are likely to have more years after age 65 than in adulthood. How much timeor attention is spenT planning for these years? You can be different. You can have a glorious Elderhood - but you needto think about it. Even if you are 74, as I am, you still haveanother 35 years!

What do you want to DO with those years? Is there something that you really wanted to do when you were young but never got the chance? Why not do it now?

Is it possible? Yes. A series of recent books have shown that the REAL secret of success is not so much talent as PRACTICE. Yes, 20,000 hours of practice makes for being among the best in a field. (The Outliers, the Story of success by Malcolm Gladwell offers a readable explanation of this topic.)

Here we all thought it was sheer talent. But these recent studies show that 20,000 hours of practice is what it takes to be a great performer, a really good hockey player, a top golfer, an excellent lawyer, artist, writer.... If you spent 3 hours practicing a new skill each day, every day, you would practice 21 hours a week or 1,092 hours a year. You would have your 20,000 hours of practice in less than 10 years.

In just 10 years you could be at the top of a field. If you did not want the very top, you could become competent... really proficient in about 6 years. So why not plan a whole new direction for this last third of your life? What else could you do that would be so satisfying in your Longevity?

What DO you want to do in your Longevity?

• Do you want to fulfill some unfilled childhood dream? Have a Lionel train set up (With the kids gone you could have a really super set up - from the guest bedroom, down the hall....) or maybe you want to become Lego champ? or create robots (There are starter kits on the market.)
• Perhaps you want to study. Go! Do it. There are colleges that offer Free tuition for Seniors. There are Scholarships - even some just for seniors . I recently received an email from a woman past 60 who just got her Ph.d in philosophy. (Wild cheering!) I know of several who applied and were accepted in law school, graduated and passed the bar - all in this last stage of their life.
• Maybe you want to travel. Spend a year or two studying the language and then go visit the country. Or just travel.... I know a couple, one of who is disabled and uses a chair. Each year they take at least one trip. They have been on Safari's, visited far off cities and they manage very well, thank you.

  Don't have the money for travel? You can earn it - $1200 your first year, $5000 the second. How? Sharing what your interests, your hobby, information from your job. Join the hundreds of seniors financing their dreams with what they know. Go to Income Retirement

• Of course there is art. Elizabeth Layton beganart after age 60 and with practice became proficient.
• Last week I was remembering that one of the greatest challenges for the United States government is that so few US citizens can read and write the languages where there are developments and challenges. It is pretty hard to converse with either leaders or citizens if you can not even read their newspapers or web sites! What if some 40% of citizens over age 65 decided to learn at least 3 lesser known languages. In 10 years, international communication could be changed.
• Maybe you want your last 40 years to be fully dedicated to others. Join one of the International Service organizations - every country seems to have them. Even the Peace Corps which ws founded for the young to give serivce is now recruiting seniors. (I hope readers from other nations will forgive my just listing US organizations - but it is what I know best. If you want to contact me with other groups, I would welcomethe information
• What of literacy? How many people could you teach to read in your Longevity? How many trees could you plant?(Remember Israel converted the desert by planting trees.) Or maybe you will build help community in your city bythanking the one who packs your grocery bag, looking sales clerks in the eye and saying good morning, callingfriends more often - smiling, making eye contact, shaking hands. In 40 years you...and possibly a few friendscould turn even a city neighborhood into a community.

What will you DO with your Longevity? So many people do not plan. They fritter it away - spend hours thinking of aches and pains and waiting for the children to call. But if you think about it, you can make a great new life - build a whole new direction - fulfill dreams that you had to 'out on the shelf' - help create a new, vibrant world. And if you do, you will have developed one of the main characteristics of thosewho Have found the key to Longevity

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