Five ways to extend your life

November 27, 2017

Greetings from the hard part,

Five Ways to Extend Your Life.

Depending on where you are in the spectrum of human lifespan, that first line will mean something different, or mean nothing, to you.  At least at first glance.  Like most things worthwhile, to grasp the fullness of an idea you must look closer, extend yourself into it.

One.

Extend your time here.  If we begin with the first thoughts that crossed your mind, we address extending our lives literally; adding years to our lifespan.  There are many paths that lead to a healthy lifestyle that promotes longevity, and you will find your own way if you apply focus and determination.

For most of our lives we are in a process of degenerating, of slowly losing the capacity we are born with.  Our choices will either slow that process or enhance the loss.  What we eat, and how much of it, contributes to this, and the longer I live the more I realize how the input effects the output.  My body functions closest to its capabilities when I give it the fuel it needs, and moderate the things that would slow me down. 

With a few exceptions most of us live lives well below our physical potential.  In that state our bodies find their own level of coasting.  So, we must extend ourselves daily.  Building strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility, are building blocks to being healthy today, and adding quality years of living to our lifespan.  It requires challenging ourselves beyond each threshold.

Two.

Extend what you do.  A philosophy that has served me for many years, when I am intentional, is this: ‘Do what you like.  Like what you do.’   Now I will add this: Do something else.  Extend yourself into what makes you uncomfortable or afraid even.  This can lead to satisfying work, or challenging hobbies, or adding another facet to your life that you would never have considered. 

Do what brings you pleasure, and what makes you think, and what takes you unexpected places.  If what you do does not include adventure, challenge, surprise, growth, then do something else.

Three.

Extend your outlook. The friction between people almost always can be traced to a lack of understanding and empathy.  The division between people, between whole factions and religions, has at its heart a lack of shared perspective. 

For some this is a deal breaker. If your view of the world, of crime, of human suffering, of creation, of God, is the only one that can be right, then you probably stopped reading at the first sentence.  For the rest of us, we have to work hard, extend and expose ourselves, so that we can at the very least understand those with whom we think we disagree.

The surest way forward in this is to take the risk to get to know the person you are most afraid of, most judgmental of, most critical of.   The goal here is not to change others, or necessarily change what we believe.  It is to form understanding of the people with whom we share this planet.  In that is a richer life for all of us.

Four.

Extend yourself to others.  Our purpose may sometimes blur, may occasionally be filtered slightly differently, but ultimately we are here to share the best of ourselves with the world around us.  One way that manifests itself is being that person for someone else.  You may be a friend to someone who needs it, a guide for someone lost, a ride for someone who has too far to walk. 

Almost ever day I meet someone who is desperate to tell their story, to be known.  It is hard to believe in a society that is elbow to elbow with people that we are not available to each other.  I’m guilty and so are you.  We can be better for others and ourselves by extending time and compassion.  We can be a neighbor.

Five.

Extend what you know.  You and I cannot survive, let alone flourish, unless we seek out new ideas, new information, new skills.  Challenge yourself to learn.  Be intentional about it or you will find technology, culture, poetry, the galaxy, outgrowing you. 

It’s never too late to learn a language, a musical instrument, to play chess, to write code, to macramé, to read Sartre, to read what makes your head ache until it does not.

It will not surprise you to read that this all comes at a price.  To live longer requires discipline, sacrifice, and enduring discomfort in order to give your body the best chance of living every year possible.

To extend your life to its fullest in each day requires paying a price too.  A rich, satisfying life comes to us in the same way a healthy body might.  By trying what is hard, failing, recovering, trying again.  Extending ourselves beyond what we thought was our limitations and finding out what we are really made for. 

The alternative is less than any of us should accept.  Without the effort to push ourselves, to extend our years and our reach and our experience, then we atrophy.  We decay, become smaller, and we end.  Start now…do not go gentle into that good night.  Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  The spark, spirit, the joy, the power that began our life is what will extend our life.

Hope this finds you reaching,

David

Copyright © 2017 David Smith