Living to 100 is only great if you’re healthy enough to enjoy it. While good genes and a healthy diet help, they’re not the best indicator of who will live well into old age.
How we age depends less on our genetics and more on our cultural expectations, according to Mario Martinez, PhD, the creator of biocognitive science (where biology meets anthropology).
Dr. Martinez’s work shows that cultural beliefs affect illness (or health) in the body. He uses migraine to explain. In the United States we attribute migraines to a vascular issue, in the UK they’re attributed to a gastrointestinal issue, in France it’s a liver issue. Same migraine, different cultures, different rationales, different cures. Menopause is another example. In Japan, the word for hot-flashes means “second spring” and older women there are honored and valued. As a result, few women have any problems associated with menopause.
Similarly, culture shapes the beliefs about aging. Centenarians (people 100 and older) are the fastest growing segment of the population; there are over 80,000 in the US alone. Some are old and infirm but others are living vibrant, engaged lives without the diseases we so often associate with aging. Dr. Martinez has spent years studying healthy aging and here’s what he’s found matters:
- Live a life of meaning. Relaxing in retirement is not healthy; a life of meaning is what matters. When you lose meaning and a sense of responsibility toward yourself or others, you begin to age or get sick. So remain actively engaged physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and socially.
- Believe in something greater than yourself. Ninety-nine percent of the centenarians in Dr. Martinez’s study believe in something greater than themselves. Having transcendent spiritual beliefs pulls you out of the narcissistic attitude that you are the center of the world.
- Nurture relationships. Relationships matter. Turn off the television (especially when you’re having a meal), get off the computer, and interact with real people. Also, forgive easily and have a short memory f
or hurts. - Engage in regular rituals that identify you with your culture or as a member of a group. Things like morning walks with your significant other, birthdays and holiday celebrations with family/friends, a daily nightcap, a square of chocolate after dinner, your bridge club on Wednesday, motorcycle buddies on Tuesday, attendance at religious services all deepen your identity.
- Don’t go to doctors unless you’re really sick. When one 102 year-old study participant reported that he doesn’t go to doctors, he was asked what his doctors thought of that; he replied he didn’t know since they were dead. If you’re sick, by all means seek help. But if you’re feeling fine don’t look for trouble. Too many tests are invasive or have false positives. And if something does come up, wait a while to see how it goes before rushing to the doctor; your body may heal on its own in a week or two.
- Forget middle age. You only know what your middle age will be after you die so forget about the cultural constructs of middle or old age and just live. What you believe will be the most important factor in how you age.
- Embrace your wisdom. Biologically we go from simplicity to complexity so we are really like fine wine — best when perfectly aged. Our brains continue to mature throughout our lives reaching their peak productivity between 60 and 80 years making those years our most generative. Our intellect and our spiritual and emotional maturity combine with our life experience and accrued knowledge to create true wisdom. This makes our meaningful work as good for us as it is for the community.
If you want to live to a healthy 100 (or more) seek to change your consciousness rather than your behaviors because consciousness changes beliefs, beliefs create thoughts, and thoughts create reality.
So celebrate aging, embrace your wisdom, do meaningful things that give you joy, and love and live to the fullest.