Live strong and last long
Contributor: “Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
I like the seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong! He has faced some terrible obstacles, yet has overcome those and worked hard both for himself and others with severe challenges in their lives. He exemplifies many wonderful health and fitness qualities, and the media can’t as of yet bring him down.
I, as I’m sure you do also, see many of his ubiquitous yellow Live Strong wristbands. I have some reservations about those, but they are minor. I want to embrace the bracelet, so to speak. In that vein, I want to add to the major Lance Armstrong wristband, the minor Dr. J phrase “last long!”
Live Strong, Last Long! What do you think? Nice ring? Good plan?
Living the wristband
One of the minor problems I have with the Lance band is most of the people, though not all, I see wearing them need to read what it says on the band they are wearing! They do not look like someone who is living strong, or is going to last long! Of course, I’m sure they all have good intentions!
Rather than addressing the living strong half, which I think Lance has done better than I, I want to look into my half, the last long part.
What are the secrets to a long, happy life?
When people who have lasted long are studied, there are many common behaviors and qualities that they seem to share! A healthy diet, exercise, not having poor health habits like smoking, and being careful with staying out of harm’s way will go a long way to a long way.
Traits of people who live strong and long
I think most people are aware of these and will make their own choices as to whether they want to do them. There are, however, other less tangible, but possibly equally valuable, behaviors that seem to make a significant difference in the length of our lives and also have the added benefit of improving our lives and the lives of those we come into contact with.
- Honesty: Being honest is a good place to start. It reduces stress, and this way you will never have to remember what you said! Honesty truly is the best policy!
- Selflessness: Being selfless and giving to others seems to really be the gift we give ourselves! I’m sure all of you have noticed, as I have, that while giving might not really be better than receiving, it’s at least just as good. In my life, when I am at my lowest, giving to others definitely seems to help my struggles better than most any other behavior.
- Passion: Being passionate about something is also a quality very common to those who have led
long, happy lives. Having a reason to get up each day and something to look forward to is wonderful during the best of times and will also help keep you going as you work through those times of pain, grief and confusion that we all face. - Hard working: A strong work ethic seems to help individuals build confidence and a sense of purpose that lasts throughout their lives. Remember the ancient adage, “Hard work makes for a better person.”
- Close with family: Surrounding yourself with your family is important to each person. Remember, your family does not have to be made up of relatives. The sharing of common values, love and friendship is more important than a chance genetic closeness. To have both is ideal! Being part of a strong family makes for a stronger person, able to deal with illness or grief.
- Love: Having a deep, abiding love for your partner, family and friends is a great trait. Unconditional love is the ultimate, total gift of our lifetimes, and expressing that, our highest achievement. These people would do anything for those they love, including sacrificing their own comfort or desires.
- Humor: Laughing has been shown to be one of the best medicines. The ability to laugh at oneself, at situations and at life is a big part of being happy! Each of these long-lived people had developed a wonderful and unique sense of humor.
- Gratitude: The feeling of gratitude can be one of our best friends. It allows us to appreciate the wonders and gifts that come our way throughout life. It also gives us strength during those times we are tested and challenged. Focusing on what we do have and not on what we don’t have, and being grateful for this, is life affirming!
- Facing life with courage and dignity: We all will face illness, loss of loved ones, and many other problems in our lives. By facing each problem with courage and dignity we can help not only themselves, but also those around us. Courage and dignity can, as an example, be contagious. Handling each situation to the best of our ability allows us a framework of self-confidence and happiness to work within and come from.
- Sense of play: Along with humor, the ability to play and be playful is important! A sense of play allows us a chance to laugh, to feel young, and to just have fun!
I hear Lance is planning to win his eighth Tour de France next year! Now that’s living strong and lasting long!
(Send your questions for Dr. J to calorielab@gmail.com or leave a comment. If your question is used by Dr. J, CalorieLab will send you a $25 Dining Dough restaurant certificate — limited to U.S. residents. More Dr. J posts can be read in our archives.)
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Going on eight, really? Wow.
Gotta agree with you that many people who wear those bracelets don’t seem to be practicing it very much (she says as she whips out the MizFit bracelet and starts lifting weights with one hand and typing with the other… hehehe).
Lasting long is very important- but especially with the QUALITY of life lasting! Sometimes its really sad at the vet clinic I work at to see people putting their animals through so much when their quality of life just isn’t there.
As soon as I read #5 (“close with family”), I thought of the Okinawans. We hear a lot about how long-lived they are (often in the context of talking about their diet). Also mentioned, but less-touted, is the connectedness of their community and the inclusion of elders as a vital part of that network. From an article about “The Okinawa Program”:
“Okinawans also have strong bonds with family and friends, Willcox says. Each home has an altar where the family goes to honor and communicate with their ancestors. The sense of connectedness extends to the broader community. In the book, the authors tell about an old woman who ran a mom-and-pop store. After her husband died and the store’s stock became thin and stale, neighbors continued to stop by and make purchases and visit with her, checking on her and making sure she had regular company. ‘They believe in sharing as a society,’ Willcox says. ‘It’s called yuimaru—looking out for one’s neighbor—and it’s a central theme in the Okinawan value system.’”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/03/LV239731.DTL&type=printable
As a person who has made herself relatively isolated from this kind of human interconnectedness, I feel somewhat wistful thinking about this.
Sagan!
Miz would be proud to hear of your ability to multitask! I just read that women are better at that than men by the way. I’ve been very fortunate with my pets. I let them live as natural a life as I can, and they seem to respond really well to that!
Liz!
Thank you for adding that to my post! When we had the hurricanes go through our area a few years ago, everyone really pulled together to help each other. It really was a community family!
Thanks for the reminder to become fully engaged in life, as opposed to rushing and just going through the motions!
And I’m with Liz, the Okinawa and centurion studies have many similar things as the above list. These are important factors and always interesting to me – living strong and long go well beyond counting calories. Thanks!
Great ideas, Dr. J. I hadn’t seen this side of you before.
A sincere sense of gratitude, to God, leads me to many of the other attributes on your list.
-Steve
My fave item on your list is #2! I’m paraphrasing somebody famous but one of the quotes I try to live by is “What do we live for if not to make life easier for each other?” I firmly believe that the best way to “find yourself” is to lose yourself in serving other people. Thanks for the great reminder!
Great Post. Thomas Jefferson said it best, “Most people feel about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Fantastic ideas …hit it right on as usual!
Love the new addition to Live Strong – nice work! The list is great – really makes you think about what’s important to last long. Lately, I’ve realized how much you really, really, really have to savor the good times to the max and really take advantage of them because it’s inevitable there will be bad times.
Oh, and yes – Lance is amazing!
Dr. J.
This is one of the best blog posts that I’ve come across. Thanks for validating what I hope I’ve been living or at least can live up to.
Crankiness isn’t on this list?
Dang, I’m doomed!
Very wise words. Following those makes for a fulfilled life. Hard to put them all on a bracelet.
Based on your list, I will live forever.
No more scans or tests.
Yay.
(you know I’m kidding)
It is a great post though I sort of agree with Crabby about the crankiness.
Jolene!
Yes it’s good to be reminded not to always be in a hurry. One of the reasons I love to fly, is it reminds me that getting there can be better than being there :-)
Steve!
Thank you! I really appreciate that!
Charlotte!
That was so beautifully said, thanks!
Rupal!
Thomas Jefferson is a favorite of mine! Thank you!
Mark!
Appreciate you!
Sahar!
Never gets boring does it :-)
Tom!
That’s really kind of you to say!
Crabby!
For you, we will make an exception!
Dr. Hubbard!
LOL, That’s a great comment!!
POD!
Thank you! Crabby may make Webster reevaluate the definition!
I completely agree on the importance of humor: a good sense of humor not just contributes to longevity but also improves quality of life.
Vered!
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people :-)
You know what’s awesome about that list? The items have nothing to do with healthy eating and exercise…the two most common factors we think of in terms of longevity. What a great reminder to have fun, laugh at yourself, live with integrity, lead a passionate life, live a life of service to others, and work hard, but play hard too. I love it! Would you mind if I reprinted the list only…giving you proper credit and a big plug to your fab column of course?
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving! :)
Good stuff, and a great post. That said, and a reminder to all, no matter how well we plan and prepare in order to live long and live happy lives, lest not forget each day is a gift! My yellow band is my daily reminder of that. I have not taken it off in years!
Kami!
Thanks so much!! Happy to have you spread the word!
Mark!
Same back at you, buddy!!
Emergefit!
Great advice! Can’t be reminded enough!