To Live Long & Prosper
No, I am not here to toot the horn of the new Star Trek movie (although I will be one of the first in line to see it - a young Spock!!)
There is an island off the coast of Greece where people routinely live into their 90's.Icaria is a beautiful, isolated place. A place where high powered business meetings don't exist. The term "hurry up!" probably isn't used much. There isn't a McDonald's.
The people live on the hillsides and don't even eat a lot of fish, due to pirates (damn pirates are every where these days!). They garden and walk every where. When they go to church, they walk. Visit a friend? Walk to their house. Another curious fact, the people drink herbal tea morning, noon and night. They have lower than usual rates of cancer and heart problems. Dementia doesn't even exist.
Is it one thing that makes the difference? The fresh fruits and vegetables? The air? The tea? I don't think so. I thinks it their whole way of life. Can we achieve that in our American society of hustle and bustle, work, work, work constantly, want more?
Interesting to also point out that we spent the weekend with friends at the lake. The husband is from England. He was talking about when he arrived in America that he was amazed at how competitive we are here in the U.S.
My comment was one of surprise but upon reflection it wasn't really surprising. I find myself always striving for more in everything. More money, more stuff, more health, more time...how does one achieve satisfaction with the status quo? I suppose this could be my new goal but I am afraid it will turn into another competitive thing for me. I dont' want it to be that but I would like to crank down the "volume" of my life a bit. I think I will have a cup of herbal tea now.
There is an island off the coast of Greece where people routinely live into their 90's.
The people live on the hillsides and don't even eat a lot of fish, due to pirates (damn pirates are every where these days!). They garden and walk every where. When they go to church, they walk. Visit a friend? Walk to their house. Another curious fact, the people drink herbal tea morning, noon and night. They have lower than usual rates of cancer and heart problems. Dementia doesn't even exist.
Is it one thing that makes the difference? The fresh fruits and vegetables? The air? The tea? I don't think so. I thinks it their whole way of life. Can we achieve that in our American society of hustle and bustle, work, work, work constantly, want more?
Interesting to also point out that we spent the weekend with friends at the lake. The husband is from England. He was talking about when he arrived in America that he was amazed at how competitive we are here in the U.S.
My comment was one of surprise but upon reflection it wasn't really surprising. I find myself always striving for more in everything. More money, more stuff, more health, more time...how does one achieve satisfaction with the status quo? I suppose this could be my new goal but I am afraid it will turn into another competitive thing for me. I dont' want it to be that but I would like to crank down the "volume" of my life a bit. I think I will have a cup of herbal tea now.
posted by DebbieDoesLife at
9:06 AM
3 Comments:
My wife is an avid exerciser. I haven't exercised since our last child was born 6 years ago. I often tell her that what will kill her is her stress. My family has a history of not exercising and living into our 90's.
I am slowly finding that stress is what gets us closer to the grave. I had a friend who "got" cancer and then went into remission as soon as he quit his job. He was always stressed out at work.
Of course, that's not always true, but I'm beginning to believe stress management is probably just as important as body management.
By
Anonymous, at 5/04/2009 4:38 PM
I agree it's the stress. I try to counteract the long hours at work by drinking green tea the entire time I'm at work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will eventually make a difference!
By
teahouse, at 5/05/2009 8:00 AM
Our school(5th & 6th) recently had a video presentation called, "Attitude Gratitude" and it made the point that we often fail to appreciate the many, many things we have in our lives, and instead focus on what we don't have. It showed kids (kids like most of ours) who pissed and moaned about wanting bigger and better things, more more more. Then it switched to an African village where kids felt lucky to have a pair of shoes, one meal a day and the opportunity to go to school, and you know what? They were smiling and just so dang happy to have a stick and a rock to play with while our kids pouted and complained because their friends flat screen TV was bigger then theirs...another clip focused on the blessings of good health that we fail to think about most of the time. It left me feeling so ashamed because I know I am guilty of lack of gratitude. Debbie, I agree.....it is time to crank down the volume (of both stress and stuff) in our lives and to show our kids how to do the same.
By
Carol, at 5/05/2009 7:15 PM
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