Longevity

[zerostao]

For a long long time. 

So yeah, a little bird chirped to me there is talk about TDB having a core of an older crowd.

I chirped back to that little bird, stick around, you ain't seen nothing yet.

 

Daoist Longevity Practices is definitely a thing. 

 

I'm sure talk will get around to Li Ching-Yuen.

 

Let's start the thread by looking at DVD

 

That's right  Dick van Dyke looks at his 100 years, and he provides so many examples, lessons, thoughts, on longevity.

 

 

If we imagine someone to have a positive outlook, ability to brighten up other's day, 

Relaxed physicality, ( if you need to see what song/sung looks like, look no further)

Staying active, still goes to gym three times a week, to avoid stiffening up. 

And a sense of humor and a warm caring heart.

This is how one gets Longevity.

Yes, he is rich and that helps I'm sure.

 But being rich is not what defines him.

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:33 PM by zerostao

[Taomeow]

恒 (Héng) : Perseverance, Persistence, Enduring Constancy.  One of the "virtues" deeply embedded in taoism.  

 

[zerostao]

Thank You  Taomeow for sharing that.

 

 

Endeavor to persevere.

Resilient rhymes with resistant.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

No one is accusing me of "sanity" & I ain't everyone's cup of tea either. And a former mod team/admin once labeled me a 'cowboy'

Well, the similarities I have in common with Clint likely end somewhere around there 

 

Spoiler

Me and Taomeow are still enduring here on TDB, and also other great members here, keep on keeping on.

That mod team, admin I mentioned, 

I miss them. M sure they are faring well, elsewhere 

 

This thread is about keeping on keeping on. And doing it well.

 

So dear bums, many of you in your youth, or arriving at some number, that may be messing a little with your mind,,

Compare and contrast Dick and Clint. Both are still kicking.

 

This thread gonna run like the Energizer bunny.

 

[liminal_luke]

Next month I will be sixty.  That´s not an age that gives me bragging rights among my friendship group of "old gays" in Palm Springs, but I´m proud anyways.  I´ve continued.  I´m here so I belong here -- who can say otherwise?  Maybe someday I´ll belong somewhere else, but that will be a different story.

[Apech]

1 hour ago, liminal_luke said:

Next month I will be sixty.  That´s not an age that gives me bragging rights among my friendship group of "old gays" in Palm Springs, but I´m proud anyways.  I´ve continued.  I´m here so I belong here -- who can say otherwise?  Maybe someday I´ll belong somewhere else, but that will be a different story.

I didn’t realize you were so young!

 

 

[Taomeow]

Edit: removed in response to the removal of what it was about

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Taomeow

[liminal_luke]

5 hours ago, Taomeow said:

Edit: removed in response to the removal of what it was about

 

 

Speaking of longevity, I´m reminded of the many profiles I´ve read featuring happy centenarians who drink, smoke, cuss, and just generally live life on their own terms.  They´re not afraid to get their claws out on occasion, when situations warrant.  More than kombucha and bubble baths, this may be the key to a long life.

Edited 14 hours ago by liminal_luke

[Lairg]

Loving oneself is the key to a fully functional human format

 

 

[Sanity Check]

 

 

104 year old woman:  "Dr Pepper is good it has sugar in it."

 

104 year old woman:  "Two doctors have told me if I drink it I'll die."

 

104 year old woman:  "But they died first."

[Taomeow]

1 hour ago, liminal_luke said:

 

Speaking of longevity, I´m reminded of the many profiles I´ve read featuring happy centenarians who drink, smoke, cuss, and just generally live life on their own terms.  They´re not afraid to get their claws out on occasion, when situations warrant.  More than kombucha and bubble baths, this may be the key to a long life.

 

Kombucha is good, but bubble baths are quite harmful (toxic chemicals).   

 

Getting one's claws out when the situation warrants it is IMO healthier than being addicted to the drug peddled heavier than any other -- Repressitol.    All things in moderation...   

[Taomeow]

4 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

 

generally live life on their own terms.  

 

This is a very important key. 

 

I asked AI (Grok) about smokers and drinkers among the verified longest lived individuals.  Here's a partial list (there's a bunch of others too who have birth documents but "are not fully verified" so I skipped their names) 

 

Name	Country	Age at death	Smoked?	Drank?	Notes
Jeanne Calment	France	122 y 164 d	Yes – ~2 cigarettes/day for 96 years, quit at 117	Port wine daily	The absolute record holder (verified)
Antonio Todde	Italy (Sardinia)	112 y 346 d	Yes – cigars and cigarettes most of his life	Wine daily	Oldest verified man in Europe when he died in 2002
Christian Mortensen	USA (Danish-born)	115 y 252 d	Yes – cigars and cigarettes until late 80s	Occasional alcohol	Oldest verified man ever until 2012
Maggie Barnes	USA	115 y 319 d (disputed)	Yes – smoked unfiltered cigarettes for decades	Moonshine occasionally	Age debated but widely accepted at the time
Susie Gibson	USA	115 y 108 d	Yes – smoked cigarettes until 106	Occasional whiskey	Quit only when she couldn’t light them anymore
Richard Overton	USA	112 y 230 d	Yes – 12–18 cigars a day until 109	Whiskey in his coffee daily	America’s oldest WWII veteran when he died in 2018

 

That Richard Overton guy surprises me.  Not so much the 18 cigars a day but whiskey in his coffee.  Coffee pairs perfectly with cognac.  Whiskey?..  Assuming he started when he was legal to drink, that's almost a century of misguided daily use of a rather uncouth beverage.  But I guess couth/uncouth is not a factor in longevity.   

[Apech]

@Taomeow this is very good news.  I have given up smoking except the occasional one bummed off a friend.  But I was intending to start cigars from my 80th and of course I drink red wine almost daily. 
 

I may bring the smoking forward on this news.  After all one needs an occupation - to misquote Oscar Wilde.

[bradley]

16 minutes ago, Apech said:

I may bring the smoking forward on this news.

 

are there health benefits of nicotine?  i.e. not the smoke itself?  I heard (maybe on this site, actually) that is preventative against alzheimers?  They have nicotine lozenges that one can take, for example. 

 

[Lairg]

47 minutes ago, bradley said:

are there health benefits of nicotine?

 

A woman I knew said that she had  become possessed during sex with a possessed man.  She complained that the possessing spirit made her steal money and then deleted the memory five minutes later.

 

She used the money to buy cigarettes for those of her friends that were targeted by the possessing spirit.

 

I had a look and the nicotine damaged the surface of the smoker's light-body (aura) so that the possessing spirit could have easy access.

 

From a biological perspective it seems that nicotine is more addictive than heroin. 

 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Lairg

[Apech]

1 hour ago, bradley said:

 

are there health benefits of nicotine?  i.e. not the smoke itself?  I heard (maybe on this site, actually) that is preventative against alzheimers?  They have nicotine lozenges that one can take, for example. 

 

Could be but I can’t remember lol

[liminal_luke]

Although there may be benefits in certain circumstances, my own unverified hunch is that cigarette smoking is indeed bad for longevity on the whole: studies comparing smokers vs nonsmokers are likely to show the nonsmokers coming out ahead.  That´s statistics for ya!  But there are many outliers -- people who smoke (or do other things thought to be unhealthy) and live an exceptionally long time anyway.  Their secret?  IMO, attitude.

[Apech]

11 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

Although there may be benefits in certain circumstances, my own unverified hunch is that cigarette smoking is indeed bad for longevity on the whole: studies comparing smokers vs nonsmokers are likely to show the nonsmokers coming out ahead.  That´s statistics for ya!  But there are many outliers -- people who smoke (or do other things thought to be unhealthy) and live an exceptionally long time anyway.  Their secret?  IMO, attitude.

Perhaps stressing about health is an indicator of being unhealthy.  For instance I have known a lot of strict vegetarian/ vegans who seem to obsess about health in terms of food.  Every one I can think of is either ill or dead from some horrible disease.   As you say may be it’s all about attitude.

 

[zerostao]

Nicotine?

Oh yeah that's what's found in potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and egg plants, used as a defense against insects.

[bradley]

20 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

Although there may be benefits in certain circumstances, my own unverified hunch is that cigarette smoking is indeed bad for longevity on the whole: studies comparing smokers vs nonsmokers are likely to show the nonsmokers coming out ahead.  That´s statistics for ya!  But there are many outliers -- people who smoke (or do other things thought to be unhealthy) and live an exceptionally long time anyway.  Their secret?  IMO, attitude.

 

i think the smoke is bad for you, but there are losenges an patches, for example, where you dont smoke. granted being addicted to anything is not good but just thinking aloud (via my fingers...)

 

i would actually say beans are the key to longevity. maybe avacados. : )

[bradley]

15 minutes ago, zerostao said:

Nicotine?

Oh yeah that's what's found in potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and egg plants, used as a defense against insects.

 

tobaco is nightshade, so that makes sense. there are lots of other chemicals in nightshade too. like solanine, which is poisonous and also keeps insects away. thats why you shouldnt eat green tomatoes, at least in abundace, nor smoke them for that matter...

Edited 2 hours ago by bradley

[liminal_luke]

25 minutes ago, Apech said:

Perhaps stressing about health is an indicator of being unhealthy.  For instance I have known a lot of strict vegetarian/ vegans who seem to obsess about health in terms of food.  Every one I can think of is either ill or dead from some horrible disease.   As you say may be it’s all about attitude.

 

 

Yes!  I´m not a fan of the Blue Zone literature, but it´s worth noting that old folks in Sardinia and Okinawa generally don´t have gym memberships or shop at Whole Foods.  The way they eat and move is baked into their lifestyle, not an add-on wellness obsession.  

[Apech]

1 hour ago, bradley said:

 

i think the smoke is bad for you, but there are losenges an patches, for example, where you dont smoke. granted being addicted to anything is not good but just thinking aloud (via my fingers...)

 

i would actually say beans are the key to longevity. maybe avacados. : )

I like avocado but let’s face it, a cigar is a smoke.

 

[Taomeow]

There's very little truth in what the public has been led to believe about what's healthy.  Also about what it is we're actually eating, drinking and smoking -- a lot of it is grossly falsified, depleted, and poisoned. 

 

"Feed the ancestors," meaning the ancestral make-up of your own body, which is one of the taoist culinary principles, can IMO serve one better -- try eating what generations of your ancestors ate before you, not the latest fad.  Although a lot of our ancestors were starving, not fasting by choice but starving due to poverty and social upheavals and endless wars.  Yet those of them who were well-to-do enough to eat "healthy" had access to the kinds and varieties of food we can only dream about.  (My grandmother on my mother's side used to tell me what was eaten in her mother's home in the early 20th century and all I could do was salivate.  On my father's side, however, the ancestors were very poor and lived through periods of starvation.  My mother's side of the family were the longevity folks, not my father's side.)