“How long do you want to live?” is a question that I like to ask people. Their answers are often very revealing.
Revealing stories
Many years ago, a 27 year old man came to me for a nutrition/health consultation. He was a construction worker, and his gnarly body was already worn out by overuse. He was stiff and sore most of the time. His diet was poor, and he wanted to change that.
I asked him “how long do you want to live?” After a surprised glance and a short pause, he replied “until I am 72.” I expected him to give me a higher number and was shocked to realize that, at age 27, he was already more than halfway through his life!
Another time I was idly chatting with a woman while we worked together on a community project. Just to be conversational, I asked her this question. She casually replied she would probably be dead by the age of 67. Her age at the time was 62.
Your perceptions subconsciously drive your choices
In both cases, I expected these people to expect to live longer than they reported. More importantly, this seemingly simple question is very telling. It reveals your perception of your longevity, which, in a very subtle, subconscious way, drives the choices that you make in your life.
Your mental dialog impacts how long you live and your quality of life
It drives your mental dialog about “how old you are”. It can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
A very dramatic example is a teacher in his early 50s who truly believed he was ‘too old’ to be working with middle school children. He felt they would not respect him because of his age. Even though he was extremely good at what he did and his students really liked him, I watched in wonder and amazement as he literally became old! By the time he was 55, his hair was totally white, and he did indeed look like the ‘old man’ he believed the children perceived him to be.
Most people do not consider this question. So, today I am asking you to give some thought to your longevity and the quality of life you hope to have to the very end.
My dreams drive my expectations of how long I will live
Personally, I want to live until I am 105. This was recently upgraded from a previous decision to live until I was 95, and I will explain why shortly. I am in my 6th decade. Should someone in their 60’s forget a name or where they put something, a typical response is that their memory is getting worse because of their older age. I watch many people my age or younger speak of ‘being old’. Quite honestly, it rankles me, because of my conviction that it is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
In my mind, I have over 40 years more that I want to live. It does me no good convince my psyche that I am already old. If I start thinking and talking about being old already, what kind of quality of life can I expect to experience?
If I wake up a bit sore, I tell myself that I need to stretch, because I have 40+ more years to go and I need to stay strong and flexible. I do not use my age as a cop out excuse to not walk the extra steps or carry the heavier bag of groceries. I choose to push myself to stay fit, to eat well, to learn new things, to stay mentally and physically challenged.
And you can to.
“If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Have something important to live for
Having something important to live for that is bigger than you makes it easier. Earlier, I mentioned that I recently changed how long I want to live from 95 yrs old to 105. This is because I have a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). A BHAG is a clear, compelling ambitious goal – a stretch goal – that brings greater good to the world. For me, I believe the healthier you are, the healthier the planet will be. My personal mission is the promotion of individual and environmental health globally. I want to help people to get the most nutrition and energy from the food they eat, whatever their diet. That makes them healthier and they helps them to have a greater positive impact on those they serve. Optimizing one’s diet also decreases food waste. It reduces pollution created by the production and consumption of pharmaceuticals (because you are healthier and make better food choices).
I believe I have a unique message to offer that can make the world a better place. It will take time to get the message out and for people to buy into it. Decades even. I can’t afford to get old. I have work to do.
Conclusion
In short, the simple question “how long do you want to live?” has grander implications. It also asks, “what quality of life do you want as you age?” and “what, if any, contribution do you want to make, and how healthy do you need to be to make it?”
“Now how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.” – Seneca