Look Ahead to Healthy Longevity

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While many baby boomers such as myself, feel like 35-year sentence in the body of 60-year, time itself has made changes, challenges, and – believe it or not – possible.

Today, when the average life expectancy for a woman born in 2009 is 79 years old and about 72 for men, even 40-Somethings are considering how to prepare for more active lives. However, this may not happen if we consciously did not look ahead and adapt our behavior accordingly. This may be especially true for men who, as you can see, according to statistics live shorter lives than women. It’s not that women are superior to men (though I once believed that even in the 70’s), but that we manage our health in different ways and to engage in less risky behavior – such as relaxing on the couch and watching sports, smoking, driving without seat belts and other activities. There are also some hormonal differences that contribute to shorter life expectancy for men. But, I believe that an American born in 1776, life expectancy is only 36 years, we have come a long way to go. It’s common to hear that today 70 yesterday, 50, as well as with medical research to identify new secrets about aging, we might be living proof of this hypothesis.

Consider that in 1950, 3000 survivor in the U.S. today, the figure rose to around 55000. By 2050, experts predict will be 1 million survivor. I have to take it on faith, because, really, I will not be one of them.

Ample resources for us through a healthy and positive aging. Information, however, rarely comes knocking at our doors. It is assigned to each of us to search out an opportunity to receive information about nutrition, exercise, relationships and social networks that support healthy aging.

Taking personal responsibility for our journey to greater maturity creates new opportunities to exercise control over our lives. We must not become brittle or depression. We should not feel unattractive, or too old to enjoy the activities. Studies show that even the stereotype of aging is not true. But, ultimately, it depends on each of us to make the decision on entry into a new era of people consciously aging well.