5 TIPS FOR A LONG LIFE
Living a long, healthy life is every person’s ambition. In this piece, we look at what tips the oldest living people of the world have to give to the rest of us. They range from learning to relax to wearing lacy lingerie. Read on!
We all have a fascination for a long life. The cynics might say that this is the big mystery of the human condition, a race which has no idea what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon and yet has an undying lust for long life. Putting aside the philosophical considerations for a moment, I think most of us would agree that given a choice between a short life and a long one, we’d all pip for the latter.
The five oldest people in the world currently are all women, and they’re all at least 115 years old. Here’s what they had to say about life, especially long life.
1. Learn to relax – Misao Okawa, 116
Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1898, Okawa has lived through the two world wars, the sinking of the titanic, the space race, and all the other stuff that we think of as words in a history book. She lives in a retirement community today, and eats three square meals every day. She is known to like sushi, and when asked about her secret to a long life, she said, ‘Eat and sleep well, and you will likely have a long life.’ She also said that learning to relax is another key tenet that she has lived by.
2. Follow God – Gertrude Weaver, 116
Weaver is America’s oldest living person, and she celebrates her birthday on the 4th of July. She lives in a care facility, and is said to be relatively active for her age. Her faith is what keeps her going, she says. ‘Be obedient to God, follow his laws, and don’t worry about anything.’ Scientific studies have proven that people with faith often have a stronger will to live than rationalists and atheists, so perhaps this is yet another reinforcement of that.
3. Follow the golden rule – Jeralean Talley, 115
Besides enjoying her time with her daughter and playing with her great-great-grandkids, Jeralean Talley enjoys taking an annual fishing trip too. When asked what advice she would have for someone to live a long life, she said, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That has been my way of living.’
4. Be young at heart – Susannah Mushatt Jones, 115
Even at her age, Susannah is feisty as a firecracker. She loves bacon, scrambled eggs and grits for breakfast, and though it may not sound like the healthiest breakfast, she lives a perfectly healthy life besides being medicated for blood pressure. She is also said to have an affinity for lacy lingerie, and when asked about it, she says, ‘You can never be too old to wear fancy stuff.’ Be young at heart, then, is her motto.
5. Eat and sleep well – Emma Morenzo-Martinuzzi, 115
Morano-Martinuzzi was born just days before the turn of the century in November 1899. When she was just twenty, Morano-Martinuzzi says that a doctor told her to have one raw and one cooked egg daily, which she does to this day. She also keeps dinner light, having just a glass of milk. She also makes sure that she gets at least eight hours of sleep every night, so perhaps that is helping her a bit too.
