Worry a Little

Beryl and Matilda at 100

I saw a segment on some news program this week where a pair of 100 year-old identical twins were interviewed. (click HERE to watch it).Quite remarkable. Only one in 500 sets of twins are identical and only one in 1.5 million people live to be 100. But the twins were just the tease for the real news item. The “news” was a book titled, “The Longevity Project” by Howard Friedman and Louise Martin (available at Amazon.com – just click the link). They conducted an eight decade study on longevity and discovered some interesting things. Among the most surprising is that those who are overly optimistic or extremely self-confident DO NOT live longer. Optimistic and self-confident people take a few more risks – “That donut won’t hurt me...” “Another drink won’t matter…”

They also discovered that people who worry a little (I want to emphasize a little) tend to live longer. A bit of worry makes us more aware of what we are doing and the short and long term consequences of our actions.

In addition, they discovered that going to the gym and working out doesn’t prolong life at all, but hard work does. Getting out there and doing something productive and physical adds years to our lives.

Today – Worry a little – think through what you do and what the end result will be. And work hard.

Live long.