From Prevention, via MSN.com/Health:
1. Your Mom Had You Young
2. You're a Tea Lover
3. You'd Rather Walk
4. You Skip Soda (Even Diet)
5. You Have Strong Legs
6. You Eat Purple Food
7. You Were a Healthy-Weight Teen
8. You Don't Like Burgers
9. You've Been a College Freshman
10. You Really Like Your Friends
11. … and They're Healthy
12. You Don't Have a Housekeeper
13. You're a Flourisher
The article does not promise that you will live to be 100. You can find the details on the signs at the site.
I'm good on #1-4. I am now working vigorously on #5 (better late than never). #6-10, I'm good. #11-12: I do have unhealthy friends, but at my age, that's nearly inevitable, and I do have a housekeeper who comes every other week.
I don't know if I'm a flourisher, or not. I was surprised at the number of things I was doing right. Well, um, I did not actually do #1, did I? My mother did that.
Well... I'm good on all this except the burgers; which may undo all the rest. I try to limit them to smaller than the gigundous ones, and aim for the lower fat content when I can; but I really can't resist a good one. Lately, I've been using a delightful spice mix I came across a year or so ago -- Szeged Steak Rub, in an attractive little tin with a heraldic crest. Ymmmy. But I digress (can you tell I'm hungry in the late afternoon...?) Anyway, long life to everyone, burgers or not; and better than longevity, joy!
ReplyDeleteSzeged Steak Rub, in an attractive little tin with a heraldic crest. Ymmmy.
ReplyDeleteWith a heraldic crest? Well, that seals the deal. We'll need to try that on the few occasions when we eat burgers.
I'm not sure that I'd want to live that long. My grandmother lived to be 97, and outlived almost everybody she knew. She felt like a lone alien time traveller in her last years. "Normal" for her were the years between Teddy Roosevelt and Warren Harding. After that, the world just got progressively stranger and stranger as far as she was concerned.
ReplyDeleteMimi,
ReplyDeleteI have 6 out of 12. In pro ball that would be a batting average of .500 -- the best in the majors. Does that count?
7 out of 12
ReplyDeleteMy Dad lived to be two weeks short of 97...he did well up until the end when he slept all the time.
My Mom died in her sleep (after a nasty weekend of flu at 79)...peacefully, quietly.
A couple of hours ago a funeral went down the Calle Real in the Village where I live...people walk and there is a small band playing funeral music...today it was a tiny white casket of a child being high carried on the shoulders of very sad men.
How fortunate we are to see and participate in life around us the way we do...such a big responsiblity to share with others...we are brave warrior of a loving God...we know it.
Thanks for being here, I appreciate and love all of you (even if I explode tomorrow from hamburgerites, I´ll not regret or a second of life...wasteful, I´m not).
Thank you God!
Counterlight, I told my physical therapist about this article today, and I said that I don't know if I'd want to live to be 100.
ReplyDeleteFred, I have 8 or maybe 9 out of 13. That means that I will live longer than you. Tobias will outlast us all in numbers of years, if the burgers alone don't do him in.
Leonardo, 7 out of 10 is not bad at all. The things I do right are not difficult, because I like to do them all, except for the exercise. That will be the most difficult to continue when my PT time runs out.
ReplyDeleteI don't care for meat that much. If I could continue to have seafood, I could do without it, except for satisfying the very occasional craving.
The funeral of a child - that's hard. May God bless and heal the family.
I love you, too, Leonardo.
7 out of 10 is not bad at all.
Mimi, I love your blog and all the gentle souls who post here. I've been lurking for a few weeks now and hope you (and they) don't mind me jumping in here. Like others, I'm not sure I want to live to be 100; however, I do work at staying healthy and I've got 12 of those traits pretty well covered. That first one, though, is an interesting one and not one I could control...my mother was 46 when I was born. Must say that I agree with Tobias' sentiment, I'll take joy over longevity any day.
ReplyDeleteI think I only just make 7 also. Mum had me at 34, I do not like tea but am addicted to coffee. Love burgers but try to ration myelf. Glad it refers to teen weight and not present weight :-)
ReplyDeleteDo not eat many purple foods (had to look them up and am not sure blueberry muffins would count). Only want to live to 100 if healthy. My mother was only a few weeks short of 97 but do not want to be like her in the last years especially without a son and daughter(for whom it was a fulltime job) to take care of me.
Pegleg, welcome. Thank you for your kind words. Jump right in, please. We are a welcoming and inclusive crew. I'll take joie de vivre over longevity any time. Of course, I have my threescore and ten plus four already, so I suppose it's easier for me to say.
ReplyDeleteBrian, yes, only if I could be in good health. I knew one man who made a vegetable garden up until he died at 99. He fell putting on his pants, although he did not hurt himself badly, he went into a fast decline and died of old age.
Grandpère once asked him the secret of his long life, and he said, "Work hard, and don't worry." Excellent advice.
I'm not doing too well on these. . . .uh-oh.
ReplyDeleteJan, come back!
ReplyDeleteyeah, 8 is my worst one.... esp. after marrying a burger-lover.
ReplyDeleteHi Grandmere Mimi. I'm new commenting here, too. I really enjoyed this list. I suspect I'd be able to enjoy life at an older age since I'm an introvert and have a rich "inner life" (as they say--not sure how to define that, tho!). Beyond that, many items on that list promote healthy living in the present which means quality of life all the way through.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you are a great model of living life to the full.
Diane, you and your husband enable each other. I suppose that would make you both co-dependent. If that's your only failure, maybe being good on all the others will overcome the ill effects of the burgers.
ReplyDeleteHi Border Explorer, and welcome. I know what you mean by a rich inner life, because I have one, too. But God seems to lead me into many circumstances and situations in which I am not alone all that much.
The quizzes and tests that I post are generally overly simplistic and sometimes downright silly. They're for amusement more than anything else.
Thank you for your kind words.
Hmm. I'm pretty good except for 1 and 2, and I occasionally like burgers...
ReplyDeleteMay we all flourish. For as long as we can stand it. :p
May we all flourish. For as long as we can stand it.
ReplyDeletePJ, excellent.