Health and Longevity

(This post is for family and close friends—my trolls will find it distressing.)

As I believe you know, I’m engaged in a longevity program: I have a plan to live until I’m 120. After a recent medical consult, I received a perfect score on my biometrics. (Not to say that my body is not having problems with “rust,” osteoarthritis, and the other things that bother us as we get older.)

I want to communicate that it is worthwhile to engage in those pursuits that we know clearly do impact health, fitness, and longevity. They’re not a mystery and, in this case, we can really say that the science is settled. 😊

We all know that we should eat right and avoid sugar and other crap. We all know that we should avoid alcohol and drugs and so forth—and I do.

We know that exercise—cardio, fitness, weight training and isometrics for muscle mass—is the miracle drug for health, fitness, and longevity.

And we know that if we do have a medical problem, we should get it checked out and fixed, taking cholesterol-lowering drugs or doing whatever else we discover we need to do. If we do these things, there’s a chance that we can add 10%, 20%, 30%, or even more to our lives.

Perhaps the most critical factors related to living long and well are philosophy and psychology. Holding a life-serving, life-loving philosophy is indispensable—a sine qua non—as is possessing a positive, life-serving psychology. Having purposes and setting goals that extend into the future is likely to keep us living longer.

I’m writing this because we’ve lost too many close friends already.

I want my friends and family to live a long and healthy life.

Carl B. Barney
October 15, 2022