Think about it
Freedom and longevity
By Jun Velasco
THERE’S euphoria in the air. Those who dispute this are a sad minority.
You see, due to bad habit, we Pinoys couldn’t believe the bad days are over. We remain cynical and don’t want to rise over our mindset that this beleaguered country can ever reach great heights.
But, if you ask us, we restate that euphoric point of fact. There’s singing, there are joyous sounds in the islands — from Butch Abad’s Batanes to Ben Diansay’s Sulu.
Our long captivity to negative habits has made us blind to great and immense opportunities. In our view, this is P-Noy’s toughest, How to free our countrymen from defeat, poverty, with graft and corruption.
Even veteran commentators are prisoners of a negative mindset. They think they are doing their audience a favor by dishing out punch lines that highlight division, weakness, and our foibles as a people. This age-old cynicism, these putdowns will surely delay our graduation from the abyss where we’ve been.
A friend with a good background of history told us Filipinos’ penchant for negatives such as belittling or ridiculing our leaders – including the still untried or who have just assumed office — is due to our wrong way of dealing with our colonial past. We try to get even with Spain, Japanese and the US by gnawing at our own countrymen, our local leaders. Let’s hope this national psyche won’t l get in the way of P-Noy’s resolve and to put the nation to greatness.
We in Philippine media are hard put in breaking from the West’s imposition known as adversarial journalism. If you don’t attack, then you’re not good.
Our blessing is P-Noy’s pedigree, his family upbringing, where dissent, criticism, attack, debate are normal. A no- honeymoon clause is as natural as breathing. .
So let’s not kill the euphoria. Let’s just be sure it ‘s translated in hard work.
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In case you don’t know yet, most political activists are super health buffs. We must thank them for their freedom-loving philosophy of life.
An A-1 health and wellness authority has come up with a study that healthy people are freedom-loving people?
The book “The Science of Longevity” says: “Sociologists who study centenarians are inevitably struck by their strong attachment to freedom and independence. Throughout their lives, centenarians tend to avoid being held back by constraints. Traditionally, most have worked on their own, very few in the confines of modern corporations. They prize their autonomy very highly.”
In his book on longevity, Prolongevity, Albert Rosenfeld after interviewing l2 hundred people who gave their ages as l00 or more, says, “It was clear that, though these individuals worked hard and enjoyed their work, there was a marked lack of high ambition. They had tended to live relatively quiet and independent lives, were generally happy with their jobs, their families, and their religion, and had few regrets. Nearly all expressed a strong will to live, and a high appreciation for the simple experiences and pleasures of life.”
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How would you tell a healthy person – he with a chance of reaching 100 or more? Here are his physical characteristics – not seriously overweight or underweight, little weight fluctuation over their lifetime, good general muscle tone, good grip, young appearance to skin, still drives a car and engages in physical activity.
Superior native intelligence, keen interest in current events, good memory; freedom from anxiety, few illnesses, not to prone to worry are some of their common traits.
They have great adaptability. While many cherished childhood memories, all preferred living in the present with its many changes. They were not preoccupied with death. They continued living with satisfaction from day to day. They were moderate eaters but willing to experiment. No special diets. All were early risers. No uniformity in drinking habits. Some drank moderately, some drank too much at times, some abstained. Smoking – some abstained, a few had smoked moderately, a few were inveterate pipe smokers. Most drank coffee.
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