Are You Ready for Life?

Let us start with a quiz relative to ageing and mortality.

Let us say you were living in 1900. How long could you expect to live?

40

50

60

Well, we will come back to the quiz and answer it, but the point is that however long you lived in the last century, you are going to live longer, much longer today, and even longer tomorrow. You see, there are several factors that are at work lengthening our lives, for men, women and children. What are these factors?

• Medical sciences has scored numerous "wins" over both common and uncommon diseases that took lives in the past 100+ years. Can you imagine that influenza, our common flu, could be an epidemic, like plague? Talking of plague that has been eradicated. Same for Tuberculosis, Whooping cough, Diarrhea and certain forms of cancer.


• As you know, children have been vulnerable to both viral and bacteria related diseases for centuries. Their immune system has not fully developed so is incapable of taking care of even the simplest forms of epidemics because it has not yet built up sufficient antibodies. Modern medicine has cured several of these diseases from common influenza virus to polio and tuberculosis. Children are living to be adults and living healthier.


• Thanks to education and awareness, individuals all over the world have become better at taking care of their bodies and internal systems.

Now for the quiz. How long could you expect to live in 1900?

The answer is: 46 years. Compare that to 2011 when the life expectancy was 78 years!

My point is that you will live a long, long time after you retire. This is particularly true of young men and women reaching adulthood today.

The impact of this particular statistic is far reaching. Can you save enough? Will Government help you and how much? Do you expect your children to care for you? Are your retirement savings enough? How about health coverage? These are hard but necessary questions to ask yourself, your partner and your family and of course your physician.

While I could write several chapters on the financial issues, the focus of this article is simply this: how can you live comfortably and in good health, knowing that you have several decades ahead of you. Here are some tips.

1. Be aware of your body and its messages. Without turning into a hypochondriac, you can make sure you get regular checkups and use reasonable, common-sense remedies if you need them. Forget about those "detoxins" and "homeophathic" and "herbal" remedies. Most of them do not work. You see what the scammers who sell you these pills and syrups are hoping is that you are in the 95% majority that does not require acute remediation for a condition. Your body has a habit of taking abuse so when you actually start living healthy, it rewards you. You may think it is the pills, actually it is your lifestyle.


2. Eat less than you want. A full belly makes you lazy.


3. Exercise at least 3 days a week, 45 minutes each day. Preferably 5 days.


4. Manage your stress. Remember, worry only about things you can control. And if you control something, be a leader in driving it to work for you.


5. Have a positive disposition.


6. Get involved in projects in something creative.

Good luck!

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