My Story – Why I want to Live for 100 years
Hello – my name is Tony and I love to live longer!! I love my life, and my aim is to live to a healthy and happy old age. I think I have always wanted to live to be 100, probably because that is what I heard my Grandma say when I was growing up. Because I heard her say it, I never really questioned the idea that we could live for 100 years, and I just accepted that to be a good goal for my life also. So I just wanted to tell you “My Story”, and to let you know where I am coming from, and why.
The Letter from the Queen
My dear old Gran (my paternal Grandmother) lived to a grand old age of 101 years old. Not only did she tell me she wanted to live for 100 years, she also told me that she wanted to get a letter from the Queen. In case you haven’t heard about getting a letter from the Queen of England, it is a tradition across the Commonwealth Nations. The Queen will send a personal letter of congratulations to centenarians. Well, the good news is, my Gran made it to 100 years old, with a bit of change to spare! I thought that was an awesome achievement, and an example of why we should set our intention on a worthwhile goal. So I thought that I want to do that also! WHY NOT!
For me it was a tale of Two Different Grandmas
On one hand, my Gran lived to 101, until she eventually succumbed to dementia (but she was quite aware of how old she was on her 100th birthday!). But in contrast, my dear Nana (my maternal Grandmother) always seemed to be older, even from my earliest memory. I guess I can remember her from about her early to mid 50’s when she seemed frail, and suffering poor health. However, her mind was always active, and she was as sharp as a pin, despite always being old and frail. Despair poor health, she still managed to live well into her 80s and she was mentally sound right up till the end!
Quality of Life
So that is how it was for me growing up – with an expectation that I could live to a ripe old age, but I was a bit concerned about maintaining good health and the quality of life into old age. Like many people, I do not think it is worth living till a ripe old age if there is no quality of life to go with it.
When I was younger
When I was younger (well younger than I am now) – life was just one big adventure! I admit to not being a deep thinker about this kind of thing. Not at all. I was 100% focused on having fun and seeking adventure wherever I could find it.
The effects of Aging
As I got older, my family started going to more frequent funerals, and sometimes it seemed that the only time we got together with the extended family was for funerals for older relatives. As I have got older, I have started to notice a few grey hairs of my own, and a few aches and pains starting to remind me of some of those adventures or mis-adventures from earlier in my life. This serves as a reminder that we cannot escape the effects of aging – it happens to us all.
When we grow older
And now I have a family and kids of my own, and they are starting to grow up and give me more grey hairs! But the biggest question of all, that we have to face up to as parents is – “Dad, are you going to die one day?” After being a little shocked by the question, the best I could respond with was – “Well, I don’t know mate…”
Now this is not really the best way to answer the question is it?
But it can be a really confronting question, and something which not many of us think about, until we have kids who are not afraid to ask the awkward questions. So I put it to you that this question is not really something you can avoid completely. At some stage we are all encouraged to think about it – How long do we want to live?
Why do we avoid thinking about mortality?
As a society, we tend to avoid thinking about death – a bit confronting isn’t it – BUT WHY IS THAT?
How does it serve us to ignore the question, avoid the question, or just plain distract ourselves with other thoughts? I know it was a real shock for me when I was confronted with the difficult question for the first time. I just know I was not prepared to put a fixed date for my last day on earth – no way! So I think we need to consider our mortality.
So what should we do about it?
We can start by being Grateful for our time on this Earth! I think we should be incredibly grateful for the opportunity and the time we have to be alive, and to love, and to play. I also think we should be grateful for the opportunity to grow old, with grace, dignity, and humility. The more we are grateful for the gifts we have, the more we can truly appreciate what we have. And there can be no greater gift than life itself. So make it a good one.
