Do You Plan to Live Longer?

Action to take

Live as if you are going to live a very long time.

Why

An East Sussex man recently obtained a 25 year mortgage on a $400,000 rental property. The UPI article doesn’t sound remarkable until you learn the man is 102 years old. Does this centenarian know something we should know? I think so. He sees himself collecting rent for many years to come. Wishing doesn’t make something so, but it does blaze a path for the opportunity.

If anyone should have lived a long life it was George Burns. After all, he got to play the title role of God in not one, but three movies (Oh, God!, Oh, God! Book II, and Oh God! You Devil!). Through his movies he became more successful and well known in his eighties and nineties than his earlier success at vaudeville, radio, and TV.

His career began as a song and dance man. Not taking himself too seriously, he often broke the “fourth wall” by breaking from the skit and chatting with the audience about what was happening. He loved to work and said, “The happiest people I know are the ones who are working. The saddest are the ones who are retired.” He was very devoted to his wife Gracie and his two adopted children, and he had many close friends.

He booked a big hundredth birthday bash at the London Palladium. In his comedy routines he often quipped, “I can’t die, I’m booked.” I was going to say that if he had booked a bash for his 101st and other birthdays, he might have seen more birthdays. Perhaps he should have taken out a 25 year mortgage as well.

With more careful research, however, I found that at 98 he fell in the bathtub and hit his head. His health and mobility went quickly downhill after the fall. It was looking forward to the 100th birthday bash that helped keep him alive to 100.
He died six weeks later. Instead of taking out a mortgage he probably needed to see himself as flexible and coordinated and keep himself in shape to manifest it.

Quotes

Old is always fifteen years from now.
~Bill Cosby

Humor

I’d love to date women my own age – but there aren’t any women my own age.
~George Burns

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.

Centenarian Heroes

Action to take

Forget Superman and Beckman. Choose remarkable centenarians as role models. Here are four who recently made the news:

Why

At 104 R. Waldo McBurney maintains a downtown office in Quinter Kansas where he sells honey from his 199 colony of bee hives. He still competes in several track events in the Senior Olympics. In 2004 he came out with his first book,
My First 100 Years.

The mysterious decline in bee populations is causing an agricultural crisis. Bees not only produce honey, they pollinate flowers and plants. Diagnosing the problem may come from a young scientist. Or it may come from 101-year-old beekeeper Wendell Cummings. He has kept bees since he was a child. Several years ago he downsized his honey business. He still does a lot of observing and thinking about bees. He believes he the mysterious decline in the bee populations is due to a new strain of beetles from South America. Scientists are seriously studying his theory.

Centenarian Kathryn Davis could have spent her millions self-indulgently. Instead she donated $20 million for clean up and conservation along the Hudson River where she still loves to kayak. Her “1000 Projects for Peace” scholarships awarded $10,000 scholarships to undergraduates who develop and implement grassroots ideas for peace. She also has funded several projects to study Russian language and culture.

Jose “El Nino” Temprana was a Cuban sponge diver and lobster fisherman. He left Cuba in 1994 after spending thirty years in a Cuban prison for opposing Fidel Castro. At 105 he achieved a dream he has had since prison He became an American citizen. He still enjoys gardening and socializing with lots of friends.

Quotes

We don’t get to choose our parents, but we select our lifestyles.
~ R. Waldo McBurney, 104 year old beekeeper and fitness advocate,

I love the thought of people enjoying the river, sailing, kayaking, hiking.
~Kathryn Wasserman Davis, philanthropist

Humor

I was always taught to respect my elders and I’ve now reached the age when I don’t have anybody to respect.
~George Burns

If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.
~George Burns

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.

Hip Centenarians

Action to take

Take heart, 100+ can be pretty hip.

Why

The US Census Bureau estimates there currently are 80,000 Americans
who are 100+ years old. Evercare conducted its second annual 100@100
survey of 100 Americans who are 99 years and older. The results looked a
lot like people in their forties or sixties. To site some examples:

–27% have watched MTV or music videos
–31% have watched reality TV programs
–4% have listened to music on an iPod
–72% have eaten at a fast food restaurant
–11% have had coffee at a Starbucks

To what do they credit their longevity and vitality?
They trust clergy more than doctors and believe
positive attitude and faith are more important than
genes and doctors.

They are concerned about health and nutrition.
82% reported their eating habits were the same or
improved compared to their eating habits 50 years ago.
When asked to choose, they voted for having a
better memory (34 percent) over fewer aches and pains (27 percent)
or taking fewer prescription drugs (13 percent).

Their favorite memories were:
–28% their wedding day
–13% birth of a child
–13% their hundredth birthday
–1% learning to fly at age 76

Quotes

Old age takes away from us what we have inherited
and gives to us what we have earned.
~Gerald Brenan

Humor

I’m getting older so I’ve started to smile more,
because I want the crow’s feet to go up.
~Simone Alexander

He’s so old his blood type was discontinued.
~Bill Dana

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.