Plan to Live Forever

One of the earliest short films from the Three Stooges was a 1935 film entitled “Hoi Polloi.” The film opens in an exclusive restaurant where two wealthy gentlemen are arguing whether heredity or environment is more important in shaping character. One claims environment is the keystone to social distinction; the other asserts that heredity is the backbone of social life. They make a bet and pick on nearby trash men (the Stooges) to prove their theory. After many attempts to teach them proper etiquette (including a dance class punctuated by an errant bee), the Stooges will decide the wager by their behavior at a fancy society party. If you recall the episode, you are already laughing.

The party does not go well; Curly pulls Moe’s jacket threads until it splits, shaves in front of a guest, gets stuck on a spittoon, picks a “maraschino” cherry from a punch bowl, and hides a bottle of champagne in the back of his pants. Moe sees the champagne and kicks Curly, resulting in the bottle popping open and spraying a guest. The guests begin slapping and gouging each other and the party becomes a melee of Stooge-born slapstick. Eventually the Stooges leave stating that this is what they get for “associating with the hoi polloi!”

This theme was repeated in the 1993 comedy Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy. Commodities brokers Duke and Mortimer Randolph make a similar bet as the wealthy gentlemen in the Three Stooges episode and pick street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, played by Murphy to “trade places” with their protégé, Louis Winthorpe III, played by Dan Akroyd. Reversal of fortune, double-crossing, insider trading, and unlikely friendships and alliances ensue and the movie ends with Duke and Mortimer destitute while Winthorpe and Valentine are on a yacht basking in riches. “Looking good Billy Ray! Feeling good Louis!” So what is it: heredity or environment?

The prevailing thought had always been that our health and longevity were determined by our parents’ health and longevity – heredity. Recent studies and experience suggest that may not be the case. We may have more control over our health, longevity and well-being than previously thought - environment. Studies continue to show that for most of us, our lifestyle choices and behaviors have far more impact on longevity and health than our genetic inheritance. It is our choice to be better today than we were yesterday no matter what aches, pains, ailments or losses we may encounter.

Scottish singer Susan Boyle was discovered on the television show Britain’s Got Talent, in April 2009, during which she sang “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Miserables. Her audition became an internet sensation with more than 300 million people watching the clip on YouTube. When the humble, plain-looking Boyle took the stage she was greeted with snickers and sneers but left the stage to a standing ovation from the audience and judges, many of whom were brought to tears by her beautiful rendition. Following that, her debut album, “I Dreamed a Dream.” hit the top of the charts in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand. It was the fastest selling UK album of all time. It was also the biggest pre-ordered album in retailer Amazon’s history at that time according to perthnow.com. She has since become a cult hero, an example for anyone who has “a dream.”

I was watching “I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story” sometime later and getting caught up in her truly inspirational story. I was thinking how appropriate it was that her “rags to riches” story was launched by such an uplifting song about dreaming a dream! But then I listened closer to the words of the song.

I HAD A DREAM MY LIFE WOULD BE

SO DIFFERENT FROM THIS HELL I’M LIVING

SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT SEEMED

NOW LIFE HAS KILLED THE DREAM I DREAMED!

What? I dug a little deeper and found out that the character in the musical who sang the song, Fantine, was alone, unemployed, and destitute! The dream was a nightmare! Life does not always go as we planned. The aging process will eventually begin to take things away from us: our strength, stamina, memory, and loved ones. But it cannot take away who we are.

That is a message found in the latest Rocky movie, Creed. It has been almost forty years since the original Rocky, when he charged up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps and kept getting up no matter how many times he was knocked down. Now he is old, ailing, and alone, having lost his wife Adrian, his mentor Mickey, his friend Apollo, and his brother-in-law Paulie. Yet he still has what Gene Cohen, author of The Mature Mind calls the “Inner Push.” Our inner push to grow and develop never stops. We have the ability to feel whole – spiritually, interpersonally, and psychologically – despite loss and pain, to live life to the fullest right to the end, to have an impact on others, and to remain hopeful despite adversity. Just like Rocky does by training and mentoring Apollo Creed’s son, getting up every time we are knocked down is a choice we can make.

Twin studies from Denmark, Finland, the United States and Asia all show the same thing -- about 25 percent of how you age is in your genes and 75 percent is your choices. Genes (the elements that carry inherited information) define your basic biology, but how you interact with the world around you - whether through food choices, exercise, or social connections - is how you control the way your genes will affect your body. This is according to Dr. Michael Roizen, author of The RealAge Makeover: Take Years off Your Looks and Add Them to Your Life. Healthy living delays many of the body changes that aging brings. And it's never too late to start on the road to better health (howstuffworks.com). According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, there are steps we can take, regardless of age, that can help minimize poor health and major disabilities later in life. Steps? Probably because the elevator to successful aging is out of order! These steps do not reverse or stop the aging process. That is impossible. What they do is allow you to maximize the opportunities that aging can provide. Let’s look at some of those steps.