Idleness And Your Longevity

If you are lazy or idle, it would be next to impossible to live a long life. Idleness will not guarantee you longevity. Of course, in life, nothing is for sure. Still, it is your duty to try to live a long life: the duty is yours, and the results are God's.

According to Lin Yutang, a great Chinese philosopher, "A busy man is never wise, and a wise man is never busy."

Why is that?

Because if you're too busy, you don't have time to learn new truths, to discover new ideas, to enjoy life's little pleasures, or perhaps even to pick a winning stock. Over-busyness is not conducive to longevity health.

To that wisdom, maybe I would like to add: "A wise man is never idle, and an idle man is never wise." Idleness is not synonymous with longevity; idleness makes you age faster, and therefore you would not live longer. So in order to be wise, and live longer, one has to find the golden medium: getting things done without getting too busy.

According to John Quincy Adams, "Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel." In this day and age, idleness is a luxury. How could one remain idle in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life? If you are a CEO, how could you be on vacation during your company's merger or acquisition? Idleness is the holiday of fools.

Many seniors may look forward to their retirement – a time of eternal vacation. Yes, maybe you should initially go on an extended vacation. However, you should not become idle – doing nothing, just watching TV, DVD, or reading a book. One may argue that one needs to relax. But too much relaxation may degenerate into idleness and inertia, a breeding ground for disease, especially if there is inadequate physical inactivity and a lack of mental stimulation. If you need to take up a sport, golf is the most ideal for an individual of any age; it is an ageless sport. It exercises both your body and mind. Other than golf, what sport can do that at any age?

Remember, as you continue to age, you lose your muscle strength and your mental capacity. To compensate for that, you need to do more work. But, unfortunately, you often do just the opposite: you simply do less. As a result, your muscles become more rigid, losing their flexibility, making you exert them less; you mind becomes more inert, making you inept at everything. It is a vicious circle, which will send you to the land of limbo, and eventually dementia, a precursor of Alzheimer's disease.

Thomas Carlyle, a historian, once said: "In idleness, there is a perpetual despair." Perhaps this deep despair of idleness experienced by so many seniors accounts for the high rate of suicide among the elderly.

Did you know that suicide is the 9th leading cause of death in the United States?

Suicide is certainly a silent killer in the aging process. If your mind is idle, you lose your sense of self-worth, which is an important ingredient in human existence. Instead of being idle, do something meaningful, such as volunteer work, starting an online business, or learning a foreign language (Research has shown that those who are bi-lingual and who constantly use two languages on a daily basis tend to develop greater immunity from the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.).

So give you self a purpose in your existence, something to look forward to, or a reason for getting up in the morning. You don't have to do it for the money; you do it for your own sanity. Remember, if you don't use your mind, you will lose your mind soon enough.

You need to remain both physically and mentally active throughout your life if you wish to live long. To do just that, you need money and sex (my previous articles have expounded their importance to your longevity), among other things.

Life ahead of you is forever changing as you get older. To live long, you need to be capable of adapting and adjusting to these changes at different levels – personal, social, and financial. You need above all: mental sharpness, which is awareness of what is going on or what is important in your life. Meaningful work is a friend of anti-aging, while idleness is the enemy.

If you're lazy, you can't be healthy. Nothing in this world is free, including your health, which is your greatest asset in longevity living. Longevity is not a gift from the above: you have to earn it. No effort, no health! Longevity is extra years well earned, and you have to earn yours if you wish to live long. You have to pay for it with a price – the price of lifelong efforts and activities. Don't be idle, and live long!

Idleness may be sweet, but it has dire consequences on your longevity health. It is common among the elderly to become idle after their retirement. But idleness is conducive to a degenerative mind, which controls an inactive body, hurtling you down the road to a premature death. Keeping your mental sharpness holds the key to your longevity.

Stephen Lau is a writer and researcher, who has spent years in writing research synopses of doctors and scientists in the United States. In addition, he is an artist in oil/acrylic paintings and art glass sculpture, as well as an Internet entrepreneur. Mr. Lau also has cultivated an intellectual interest in the sport of golf. Website: http://www.longevityforyou.com Publications: http://stores.lulu.com/booksbystephenlau

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