076: Longevity Adds More Than Years to Your Life

How often do you think about longevity?

It's a common topic especially in the aging, health, and wellness zone.

Whether or not you give a lot of thought to the topic, I encourage you to clarify your thinking about it.

Sure, there's a substantial scientific component to the whole subject of longevity.

While the science is compelling, I choose to focus on the practical lifestyle components associated with it.

Typically, longevity gets equated with lifespan.

And though relevant to your aging journey, longevity isn't always a lifespan issue.

It’s easy to fixate on lifespan but be careful that you don't miss the more practical benefits of longevity.

Being longevity minded shifts your thinking away from miles logged to a mindset of how to live your life in more meaningful ways

I've grown more interested in the practical aspects of longevity in my daily routines, my outlook on life and culture, and defining the essentials.

• Living at a sustainable pace
• Staying relevant
• Stripping down (curious aren't you?)

Live at a sustainable pace

As the ancient Greek proverb affirms, "You'll break the bow if you keep it always bent."

You're probably aware that the pace of life can bend and occasionally break you.

Slowing your physical and emotional RPMs to a sustainable pace is useful for experiencing longevity-mindedness.

If you've retired out of the workforce you've likely begun to realize that pace slows somewhat.

On the flip-side you might also have begun to realize that while the physical pace slows in retirement, your emotional and mental pace still registers RPMs in the red-zone on occasion.

Aging, unfortunately doesn't provide you an emotional break from life and its realities.

I've discovered during my running and half-marathon training routine that pacing is key to mileage longevity.

According to my running app, some training days are to be an "easy run" at a "conversational pace" (meaning I would be able to run while carrying on a conversation).

Other days, the app has me doing a run with a timed pace.

This means that I'm required to maintain a specific minutes/per mile pace for a set duration.

Sustainability in the timed-pace category has everything to do with how I've trained myself to adapt run by run, week to week.

Sticking with it or sticking it out - whatever your current pace as you age - has everything to do with creating sustainable routines.

• Know your emotional limits and when its necessary to step away from the noise.
• Avoid the martyr-syndrome and sacrificing yourself on the alter of everyone's problems or unfortunate circumstances.
• Live in self-awareness about how your decisions and actions impact others.

Stay relevant

I mentioned in a previous newsletter issue that my word of focus for this year (2025) is "agency."

The idea of agency is that I can and should own my own personal view of things.

Agency motivates me to take responsibility for continuing to educate myself.

Agency also enables me to personally filter what comes into and goes out of my life.

Relevance becomes a measure of how dialed in you are to what's going on around you.

You can play "dumb," be clueless, or be opinionated as you age.

I prefer relevance as a longevity-booster.

• Listen with discernment - filter what you hear.
• Apply critical thinking - seek to understand not merely accept everything at face-value.
• Beware of rabbit-holes - avoid what's unproductive or irrelevant to the moment.

Strip down

Practical longevity relies on the essentials.

Why not travel-lighter?

Jesus encourages, "...live freely and lightly." 1

Doesn't that wisdom resonate better than trying to keep too many plates spinning or managing so much physical and emotional baggage?

Stripping your life down to the essentials is a personal experience.

Sure, you might require some help, especially if you've acquired more than you're capable of sorting through, discarding, or giving away.

Your capabilities could apply to emotional or physical stuff.

Stripping either one to the essentials starts with you but it might include a white-flag of surrender if you're overwhelmed.

Start trimming with these questions:

• What can you live without?
• How dependent are you on it?
• Where could you grow if you let it go?

Those questions and how you answer them can empower you on the practical path to being longevity minded.

The practical pursuit of longevity creates a renewed mindset for living a sustainable, relevant, and lighter aging journey

• Live at a sustainable pace
• Stay relevant
• Strip down to the essentials

Press on...

Eddie

Sources:

1 - The Bible, Matthew 11:30, Message translation