The Art of Gaining Years in Life
Posted on Sunday, 13 December 2015
The
Art of Gaining Years in Life
By Apolinario Villalobos
For most people, age does not matter in
life as it is just a number that cannot be equated with one’s state of mental
and physical health which determines the extent of our stay on earth. One may be
young literally but because of poor health and mental competence, his or her life
may not be as lengthy as somebody’s who, though, older is sound both in mind
and body.
Gaining years in life can be an art as it
requires grace and care. Gaining years does mean just waking up to another day
that accumulates into weeks, months and years. This kind of art involves the
environment and other people…which means, blending with them, or as the popular
adage says, swimming with the current. By doing so, irritants are avoided.
Science has identified irritability as among the causes of disease and fast
aging. If we are always irritated, we are bound to develop plenty of furrows on
our forehead and crow’s feet, aside from a totally sagging face that projects
dejection.
Smiling is one free therapeutic facial
exercise that can prevent facial wrinkles. It is also the only free gift that
we can personally give to everybody. There’s nothing wrong with smiling even at
strangers, especially, to friends and most especially, to our loved ones. Our
smile will tell them that everything is alright about us….no worry. With that,
they will feel glad and the contaminating feeling can have a domino effect as
it spreads to others. Smiling to others in the morning is like giving them sunshine,
and in the afternoon, is like giving them assurance that the evening can just
be a short respite for another day to come.
Care in what we eat is one great factor in
determining if we can live longer as desired or not for long due to
carelessness and voraciousness. For this, discipline is a prime necessity. One
should not just be eating what he or she desires. There should be moderation,
or if need be, restriction, especially if the instruction comes from a doctor.
There is a joke about the stubborn attitude of others who want to do things as
they please….that if they do not want to grow old, they can eat anything they
want – with all their heart. With that, they die young!
Daily exercise or better, working still,
even beyond sixty, if there is an opportunity can get ourselves occupied so
that our mind will not get bored. A bored mind can result to physical
sluggishness. Our body and mind should help each other in order to maintain an
overall fitness. By being busy we become oblivious to the ticking of time. Some
people even forget that they have earned another year in their life. They think
that life today is just like what it was the year before or still, many years
before.
Finally, always think young. This is a
self-hypnotic mental exercise that can make one unconscious of the passing
years. Think as if you are a teen-ager even if you have just received your
Senior Citizen’s ID. Be proud of the wisdom earned and let the zestful youngish
feeling be manifested, though, with restraint. An important reminder is for one
to act in a way that should elicit respect. Don’t force the issue of “being
young” too hard by undergoing physical “renovations” from face to toes. For
“girls” use the appropriate get up and rouge on the face, and for the “boys”,
do not act like a trying hard “gigolo”!
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