Living Younger Healthier and Longer

​A healthy outside starts from the inside.
Robert Urich


Two years ago I took a risk of writing my first blog posting. I had no idea if sharing my personal experience would be of interest to anyone beyond my grandkids. Today I am posting my 100th article. I greatly appreciate all of my followers. I am now celebrating a high point of 2000 viewers in one week. I also appreciate the feedback I receive from many of you. 
 
I never preplan my postings. I just sit in silence after writing in my grateful journal. Whatever thought surfaces in word or idea becomes the topic for the week.
 
This week it was encouraging for me to start reading a book given to me by a friend titled The Telomere Effect, Living Younger, Healthier, and Longer by Nobel Prize Winner Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel, PhD.  Telomeres are an essential part of human cellular aging that affect how our cells age. The book is about researched scientific evidence of the value of having a positive approach to life.
 
 “Telomeres throughout the body shorten as we age, and this underlying mechanism contributes to most diseases of aging. Telomeres explain how we run out of our ability to replenish tissue. But telomere attrition is a clear and an early contributor to the aging process, and more exciting it is possible to slow or even reverse that attrition.”
 
Chapter 5 of the book:
Mind Your Telomeres:
 
Negative Thinking, Resilient Thinking:
 
“We are largely unaware of the mental chatter in our minds and how it affects us. Certain thought patterns appear to be unhealthy for telomeres.  These include
thought suppression and rumination as well as negative thinking that characterize hostility and pessimism.”
 
Pessimism: Pessimism is a risk factor for poor health.
 
“Something bad is going to happen here.”
“These folks are the first to prepare for a worst-case scenario, the first to expect a bad outcome. In other words they’re pessimists.”
 
Mind Wandering:
 
The iPhone mind-wandering study showed that when people are not thinking about what they are doing, they’re just not as happy as when they are engaged.  www.trackyourhappiness.org
 
Rumination:
 
“Rumination is the act of rehashing your problems over and over. Being caught in rumination is more like getting sucked into a whirlpool that hurtles you through increasingly negative, self-critical thoughts.”
 
Resilient Thinking:
 
If you suffer from any painful mental habits we’ve just described (pessimism, rumination, negative mind wondering, and the thinking that characterizes cynical hostility) you probably want to make some changes. This book offers great ideas on how to live a more fulfilling life.
 
I was amazed that many of these tools suggested are the ones I use from my own personal toolbox, most of which I have shared with my readers.
 
This week you may want to focus on one practice you can incorporate into your daily routine to assist you in living younger, healthier and longer.