I just reached traditional “retirement age.” But what does retirement even mean anymore?
I typically feel better most days than I did 15 years ago. Back then, I was embedded in the toxic academic-government-medical system. I was also subjected to our crony capitalist healthcare system, as both a doctor and a patient.
I’m now blessed to do what I love, without all the useless bureaucratic entanglements, committee meetings, and seemingly endless commutes.
I also made some lifestyle changes over the past 15 years.
For example, I now happily follow a balanced diet, which includes organic butter, eggs, meat, shellfish, and reasonable levels of sodium. I never fully believed the government’s tirade against these foods. But it still influenced my choices at times. For example, when I was young, I knew stress was the cause of high blood pressure, but was subject to the government’s ceaseless hammering about salt. I knew I was under a lot of stress, so I banished salt from my kitchen and my table — and learned to like it (since I couldn’t’ really do anything about the stress until 15 years ago).
Over the past few years, I’ve also begun to develop my own line of quality dietary supplements — Smart Science Nutritionals.
During the 1990s, I learned about the poor practices, products, and behaviors of most manufacturers in the dietary supplements industry. I found it so shocking I couldn’t find any good, quality dietary supplements to support optimal health.
Now, I formulate, make, test, and monitor my own supplements and ingredients, from which both my family and I reap the benefits on a daily basis.
I also enjoy contributing to a successful, growing business that provides quality information to you, dear reader, so you can take charge of your own health. In this business, I am surrounded with talented, younger people. (Otherwise, I’d never get my writing up on the internet.)
These meaningful ventures help me set aside any old ideas about retirement. Indeed, today, I think of 84 ¾ or even 104 ¾ as “retirement age.”
I also recently came across a 14-point list of advice from a Japanese physician who worked almost throughout his entire 105 years. (Imagine what he saw in his life.) I very much enjoyed his simple, practical advice for long, healthy living:
- Take the stairs.
- Carry your own baggage.
- Don’t be afraid to challenge your doctor.
- Medical science alone cannot help or cure people.
- Pain is mysterious.
- Share what you know.
- You don’t have to retire.
- Plan ahead.
- Don’t be overweight.
- Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.
- Don’t worry about things you can’t control.
- Find a role model.
- Don’t be crazy for money.
- Be inspired.
The good doctor’s advice also reminds me of a study I reported on last year.
Just saying.
In this month’s November issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter, I also discuss the importance the old adage “eat, drink and be merry” has for your happiness and your health. (If you’re not yet a subscriber, now is the perfect time to become one.)
I’m also developing a new healthy aging protocol that puts together all the recent research on how to live a full, healthy life into your 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond. Once it’s finished, you’ll be the first to know about it.
Mind you, my new healthy aging protocol will not be as short as the Japanese doctor’s 14 points. I imagine he’d been around long enough to remember Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, after World War I, when the Japanese were actually our allies. So perhaps Wilson’s speech was his inspiration. But I’ll need a few more words to fully explain my plan for healthy aging.
Source:
“Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, Longevity Expert, Dies at (or Lives to) 105,” New York Times (www.nytimes.com) 7/25/2017