Saw a charming article about centenarians, which is purportedly about odd tricks they used to live long lives… but really it’s just an awe-struck homage to them, because they’re all super cool, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to what has kept them going.
They seem happy and healthy, and for the most part it’s not from an eat-your-vegetables approach to life. They drink, eat bacon, smoke, jump off things, don’t take their vitamins… really, there’s little rule following, it seems. Hard to say what to take away – Except for this one fellow’s comments; ‘the capacity to enjoy learning is what matters’:
Be curious about life
Irving Kahn, 107, is the world’s oldest stockbroker, starting on Wall Street in 1928. He says he’s never had a life-threatening illness, doesn’t take cholesterol or blood-pressure medicine, and maintains a positive attitude people half his age would envy. “I don’t worry about dying,” he said. Instead, he reads three newspapers a day and watches C-Span to keep his mind sharp. He’s read thousands of books, all of them non-fiction — “Mostly I’m interested in what’s on the edges: solar energy, sending vehicles beyond the moon,” he says — and is determined to stay curious about life. “If you’re alive, you might yet find the answer to something,” he explained. “The puzzle you couldn’t solve before. The capacity to enjoy learning is what matters.”
Perhaps we should stop reading so much news about random violence, put down our glowing ADD-inducing devices once in a while, wander into a library, and see what calls to us.
I think I need to, anyway. Maybe you are neck-deep in happiness, but I am not. I would like to enjoy my life more, worry less about dying, and experience much less stress about work.
Heck, maybe I should try everything they do. Yes! That’s a good plan! I’m hereby I’m starting an Engage Your Curiosity club. We will read from actual books, drink, eat bacon, and jump off things. Membership is now open. : )