"I'm glad I am 101"

“I've lived a long time, a very long time, 101 years, and I'm still here.  I'm done with the doubts and struggles and insecurities of youth. I'm finished with loss and guilt and regret. I'm very old, and nothing is expected of me. Now, provided good health continues, I can do what I want. . . I can even do nothing -- what a luxury that is! I have new priorities and a new appreciation of time. I enjoy my family more than ever, and also a sunny day and a comfortable bed. I keep up my interest in books and theater and people, and when I'm tired, I rest.... I had many problems and disasters in my life; fortunately at my age, I don't remember what they were. I'm glad I am 101.”--“Test of Time,” by Bel Kaufman, Vogue, August 2012 (The Age Issue), p. 82

"The paradox of aging is that realizing you don't have all the time left in the world doesn't make you sad and miserable; it makes you live in the moment and be appreciative of the day.  That's the secret to happiness.” --Laura Carstensen, Director of Stanford Center on Longevity
(http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/08/30/getting-better-with-age-why-seniors-are-more-satisfied)

Words of wisdom from world's oldest living person

Besse Cooper, the world’s oldest living person who turned age 116 on Sunday, shared some secrets to her longevity:  "I mind my own business, and I don't eat junk food.” 
Her son Sidney observed, "The older she has gotten the more wittier she has gotten." 

(http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/8/happy-birthday-besse-cooper-worlds-oldest-living-person-turns-116-44470/)

Sensible advice like Michael Pollan's commandment in Food Rules:

“Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food."

How long do you want to live?

The New York Times recently published an essay, “How long do you want to live?” by David Ewing Duncan, author of When I'm 164: The New Science of Radical Life Extension, and What Happens If It Succeeds (http://www.davidewingduncan.com/whenim164/). At bioscience gatherings, Duncan surveyed audiences to respond to that question, given the following choices:

A. 80 years, the current average life span in the West;

B. 120 years, close to the maximum anyone has lived;

C. 150 years, which would require a biotech breakthrough; and

D. Forever

According to Duncan, the majority opted for 80 years, while few wanted to live forever.  Many respondents explained that they “didn’t want to be old and infirm any longer than they had to be,” even if medicine could postpone this inevitability.  However, few viewed the extension of healthy lives as an opportunity to “accomplish more in life and to try new things.”  

Imagine the possibilities from a genius like Albert Einstein if he lived beyond his 76 years.  Duncan noted that if Einstein were alive today, he would be 133 years old, but "That’s assuming that he would want to live that long. As he lay dying of an abdominal aortic aneurysm in 1955, he refused surgery, saying: 'It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.'"

(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/sunday-review/how-long-do-you-want-to-live.html)

Geronature: a blog about gerontology + nature!

The term gerontology (from the Greek γέρων, geron, "old man" and -λογία, -logy; from PIE root gere- "to become ripe, grow old") was coined by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ilya Mechnikov (1845-1916), who memorably stated “We must continue living, not age-ing.” (http://www.day.kiev.ua/137971)  Gerontology is the multidisciplinary study of the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging.

 

The term nature, originated in the late 13^th century, has meaning associated with "restorative powers of the body, bodily processes; powers of growth"; from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence"; from Latin natura "course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe," lit. "birth," from natus "born," pp. of nasci "to be born," from PIE gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nature)

Aging is part of nature, a process that we all experience from birth and we grow better with age when we live in harmony with nature . . .

The value and diversity of our aging experience encompass a yin-yang spectrum:  dependence-independence, leisure-work, spiritual-physical, quiet-loud, inward-outward, soft-hard, etc.   

Dahlia is the official flower of San Francisco (http://sfdahlias.org/aboutdsc/official_flower.htm).  Here’s the blooming Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park.  You can see the plant life cycle from leaf to bud to flower to fruit which releases seed for the cycle to continue.  Like plants, we need SWAN (Sunlight + Water + Air + Nutrients) to thrive.