"I Need Never Get Old"

Well, I am certainly not Paul McCartney! Regardless, I hope you enjoy my rendition of Let It Be! In this day and age of public strife and conflict, I think we can all take a lesson from the Beatles!

I also hope you enjoy these photos from the Tama Cemetery. After spending many hours walking through that cemetery, I finally decided to get a map. Using that map, I discovered the grave site at which these pictures were taken. This has now become my favorite grave site in the cemetery!

One of my all-time favorite lines from a song is the title of the song, "I Need Never Get Old," by Nathaniel Rateiff and The Night Sweats. I love the song and I love the title!

That song title could easily be the title of a fabulous book I am reading, "Breaking the Age Code," by Becca Levy. Here are a couple of representative quotes from that book.

 "Participants with the most-positive views of aging were living, on average, seven and a half years longer than those with the most-negative views."

"When it was my turn to address the senators, I explained how I discovered that negative age beliefs affect not only health outcomes, such as memory performance and cardiovascular response to stress, but also the very length of our lives."

Levy, Becca. Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live (p. 93). Harper Collins. Kindle Edition.  

This book is also referenced in another great book, "Sway," by Ori Brafman.

Wow, 7.5 years is a long time! This is powerful stuff! At the same time, there are no shortcuts. What Becca explains in the book is that people with a positive and optimistic view of aging make lifestyle choices and commitments that typically increase their longevity and the quality of their lives. In other words, this positive mindset towards aging leads to day to day habits that promote longevity. 

There is that old saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Becca argues that research and studies do not support this saying. On the contrary, she argues that as people get older, many of those folks learn new skills and have stronger self-reflective skills that those who are younger. She cites evidence that shows that many older people are better therapy patients because of their ability to learn from the past without interference from a strong ego.

Speaking for myself, reading this book is music to my ears. I have listed below some of the evidence from my life.

1. In 15+ years of working in schools, I have yet to miss a day due to being sick. Besides good health habits and lots of discipline, I really do not want to miss any time with my students, so I push  myself mentally and physically and emotionally to stay healthy and be in school.
2. I just had my 68th birthday. I have continued to set records for my one hour bike ride. 
3. For all practical purposes, I can do almost everything I could do thirty years ago, just maybe a little slower!
   
4. Strength training has helped me with injury prevention and with my ability to maintain an active lifestyle.
5. My own perception is that I am the best school teacher I have ever been, due to extensive planning, a willingness to try new approaches, and a determination to be the best teacher I can be.
6. I do not think about my age. 
7. I think about what I want to accomplish in life, and then I make a plan and go on to execution, knowing that I will make mistakes, but also knowing that hard work and perseverance will likely bring about positive outcomes. 
8. I live my own life based on the goals and decisions I make that reflect my purpose in life. 
9. I do my best to ignore messages from others that do not support my efforts and my purpose in life. 
10. When people say, "you can't do this," my response is to prove them wrong.
11. I try to live day to day by the ideals promoted in the song, "The Impossible Dream."
12. It may be impossible, but why not try! 

 

Please join me in working to abolish the prejudice that exists in our world towards senior citizens. 

Please join me in believing that many of us can lead productive and inspired lives until the day we die. 

Please join me in reaching out to others and doing all we can to make this world a better place.

All the best,

Bob Reed