One of the ongoing disappointments in my life is hearing elderly women and men attribute their longevity to hard work, no smoking, and no drinking. My reaction is usually to wonder: “Really? Was it worth it?”
All that hard work and abstinence sounds more like a sentence than a life. Surely we were meant for better things?
Who, to quote Yeats, wants to end up “a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick” after such an abstemious life? All who live long will end up like that anyway
Would it not be so much better to eat, drink, and be merry even if the price is a few extra, miserable decades of working hard, not drinking, not smoking, just to be told you are wonderful for living so long when it all may be down to genetics anyway? Was it for this?
READ MORE
An ongoing consolation on hearing elderly people attribute their longevity to virtuous living is the happy recollection that fitness guru Jim Fixx, author of 1977 bestseller The Complete Book of Running, and believed to be the father of jogging, died of a massive heart attack in 1984 while on a run. He was 52.
RIP Jim. No offence intended.
And there was Diego. Maradona, the great Argentinian footballer, who died in 2012 aged 60. Okay, he had a history of drug abuse and Jim Fixx had heart disease, but why spoil a good story?
I mean, look at Winston Churchill. No great friend of Ireland’s, but what a lifestyle! He died in 1965 aged 90. This was his daily routine, even during the second World War. Wake-up 7.30/8am. Work from bed until about 11am, then have a long bath, get dressed and go for a walk.
Lunch from 1pm, often with guests, and usually involving multiple courses and copious amounts of alcohol, mainly Champagne and wine. Afternoon nap 3pm-5pm, when he undressed and went back to bed. Work from 5pm to 8pm.
Dinner 8pm-10pm, usually with family and friends, again with multiple courses and drink, mainly brandy and port, as well as cigars. Late-night work, 10pm-2am. Often his most productive period of the day. Back to bed, 2am/3am.
Now, there’s a life. And what a life.
Longevity, from Latin longaevus, for “of great age, ancient, aged”.
