09/05/2023
Laura and I started watching a new show last week called, “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.” It’s about a philanthropist who travels the world over to research cultures and communities that have a high per capita of people living to be 100 or more.
Not that I’m spending an inordinate amount of time considering my future demise, but I wanted to hear this researcher’s “secrets” and discover if there are any new insights I can appropriate into my maturing age.
Nope.
Good information, but, as they say at the local diner, “It ain’t rocket science.” Here are the “secrets” to living a long life, according to episode 1:
· Eat right
· Stay physically and mentally active
· Be in community
· Find purpose
Like I said, good information but not rocket science. Over the years, I have found one additional “secret” to longevity…
· Keep the main thing the main thing, and don’t sweat the small stuff
Most people I know who are aging well do a great job at not letting little things fester and accumulate. Non-clinical anxiety often emerges when we get overwhelmed with the compilation of the little things that turn into a whirlwind of big things.
Our stress level intensifies when our to-do list increases. One agenda item by itself is no big deal, but when it gets multiplied tenfold and infused with the latest crisis of the moment, our blood pressure rises, and our life expectancy, according to a recent Yale study, actually decreases (www.ctpublic.org/news/2022-01-04/chronic-stress-can-reduce-lifespan-says-recent-yale-study#).
The way to counter this is to walk through our crises but not fixate on them. Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) once wrote, “All moral elevation consists first and foremost of being weaned from the momentary.”
We all have to go through momentary crises, some of which are life-changing, gut-wrenching, horrific moments filled with deep sorrow and anguish. But we also experience the routine crises of a car that won’t start, a conflict with someone at work, or a meeting that needs immediate attention. It is in this realm where our “weaning from the momentary” must begin.
Let’s learn to live in the moment but not become fixated on the routine, momentary crises that befall us all. As Jesus said, our Master Teacher, Savior, and Lord, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. . . . And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:25, 27, ESV).
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
—Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV
