Do You Want to Live Forever?

My favorite terrible movie is “Conan the Barbarian”, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role. His love interest and sidekick, Valeria, is played by Sandahl Bergman. I saw this movie in 1982, and it is the first movie I remember where the leading woman, instead of helplessly standing on the sidelines during a fight, turned around and jumped into the fray, screaming and swinging a sword.

I loved Valeria. Twice in the movie, she asks Conan the question, “Do you want to live forever?” The first time is as the duo is hesitating before jumping off a building into a pond. I won’t describe the second time, in case you haven’t seen the movie and want to experience it in all its emotional glory for yourself.

Her point, of course, is that one must take risks to truly experience life to its fullest. But the question, “Do you want to live forever?” is being asked more lately in the light of ongoing longevity research. And the answer, I think, is “Well, it depends. “

Are we talking about living forever in a relatively healthy state, sound in body and sound in mind? Or do we mean prolonging life while sinking further and further into decrepitude? This is popularly known as the difference between healthspan and lifespan. So yes, I do want to live as long as I can, if I can do so in minimal pain with my mind intact. And no, I do not want to live as my parents are now living, with their bodies still functional, but with an increasingly loose grip on reality. I do not want to outlive my mind.

So, what to do? As evidenced by my parents, both well into their nineties, I probably have a “Best by” date of about twenty-plus more good years. Can I prolong that? Maybe, if recent research holds true. Three main themes keep recurring.

1. Move!

No, not to sunny Portugal or Costa Rica, although those are popular retirement locales. I mean move your body, every day. Exercise fads come and go, but the essentials remain the same:

• Any exercise is better than no exercise. Do something physical that you enjoy, be it walking the dog, learning tai chi, or participating in Ironman triathlons. The key is that it’s something that you find fun and rewarding.

• Pick things up and put them down. Progressively heavier things. Sarcopenia (loss of muscle tissue) and osteopenia (loss of bone mass) as we age are real, and both can be slowed and even reversed by lifting weights. I do not wish to end up with a fatal hip fracture from falling, and keeping my muscles and bones strong is the best way to prevent it.

• Work on your balance. You can simply practice standing on one foot and then the other, holding onto a chair or counter for support if needed. My electric toothbrush has a two-minute timer, and I use that short time morning and night to work on my one-legged stance, since I’m standing in front of the sink anyways.

2. Think!

Sorry to say, a daily sudoku is just not going to cut it. Evidently, puzzles and brain-training games do not have as much benefit as hoped for the older brain. You need to stretch your mind with something that is actually difficult. What have you always wanted to learn, but never had time for before? Gourmet cooking? Carpentry? Computer programming? Learning a musical instrument? Writing your novel?

For me, learning Spanish has been an ongoing challenge. It’s slow going, as I have long standing, progressive hearing loss and, according to my audiologist, an auditory processing disorder as well. But I have confidence that time and persistent effort will win out. Eventually, I will be an old bore in two languages!

3. Keep on the Sunny Side!

As the old song says, there's a dark and a troubled side of life and there's a bright and a sunny side too. A recent large study spanning decades found that optimistic women lived 15% longer than pessimistic ones. For men, the difference was 11%.

No life is without its problems, its pains, and its sadness. As we age, we deal with losses of all kinds: friends, loved ones, physical abilities, dignity. How we allow these losses to affect our attitudes makes a huge difference. We can ruminate on the mud below our feet or lift our heads to the stars above. Both the mud and the stars exist, but we choose where we will place our attention. Choose wisely, grasshopper!

At the end of my life, I do not plan to go gently into that good night. I want to go out like Valeria, swinging my sword with both hands.