Dailyu Lesson from Life 27 September 2008

"Tue, Sep 23, 2008 The Straits Times Wired centenarians

We all know that there is much we stand to learn from our elders. There is also much that they seem to be learning from their juniors.

When international research company GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media did a telephone poll of over 100 centenarians in the United States recently, they discovered that many of these very senior citizens have picked up modern ways, WebMD reported.


Twelve per cent said they have used the Internet and 19 per cent use cellphones. What's more, 3 per cent said they have dated someone they met online.

The poll asked these senior citizens to list what they thought were the top 10 ways of staying healthy. Here's what they said:


Stay close to your family and friends - 90 per cent.
Keep your mind active - 89 per cent.
Laugh and have a sense of humour - 88 per cent.

Stay in touch with your spirituality - 84 per cent.
Continue looking forward to each new day - 83 per cent.
Keep moving and exercising - 82 per cent.

Maintain a sense of independence - 81 per cent.
Eat right - 80 per cent.
Keep up with news and current events - 63 per cent
Keep making new friends - 63 per cent."

It is a Saturday and with the mindless little toy cars running in cycle round the Singapore Grand Prix night track creating tons of noise and burning through hundreds of tyres and burning through tons of petrol or jet propulsion fuel, it may be a good time to relax and learn how to live too 100 healthily!

The 10 secrets shared by the centenarians are not secret really. Many of us know what they are. Some of us even practice some of these values by doing them. Just that we are not as consistent as we should be in order to reap the benefits of such wise way of life!

The lessons learned for me are；

1. human being are social being. At the same time, as we live a holistic healthy lifestyle by eating right, exercise appropriately, enriching and keeping our minds active, we will live longer than our peers who do not do any of those activities. As such we need to keep making new friends if we don't want to be lonely;

2. when we do get lonely, then our firm view about life and about our self-worth will be called upon to keep us positive, looking forward, and finding inner peace. This is actually a higher stage of self-actualization than those that need to constantly look outside for inspiration and motivation!;

3. to live to 100 without giving back to the society will be a sad waste of time. Sharing the life's knowledge and wisdom will be great. Maybe we can join some volunteer organizations that allow us to contribute and bring joys and knowledge to others who want to learn free of charge.

To live to 100, I will: eat right, exercise appropriately, refresh my learning constantly, look at bigger of picture of how much can I give instead of how much do I need, keep an open mind about knowing friends though a few closed friends will do for me, and find a peace of mind when I am alone!