“If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” – George BurnsIt’s an intriguing question, isn’t it? Some people might not know how to answer or some people might say “I don’t want to live that long!” Like it or not, it is a possibility. One hundred years ago, children born had a life expectancy of 50 years. Today, people over 100 make up the fastest growing segment of our population.Researchers say kids born today could live well into their 100s. The blueprints for this are written into our genes. The expression of those genes depends upon the choices made throughout life.About 8 to 10 years ago, I had a patient named Fannie. She was a sweet, quiet woman in her mid 70s. When I first met her, she was at her wits end; she was in such pain she did not know what to do. She got around using a walker with tennis balls on the bottom so she could push it across any surface; she was too weak to pick it up to walk. She wore Depends because she had no bladder control. She had such severe scoliosis and spinal degeneration that she could not stand straight. When she saw her X-rays and I explained that a lot of what she was suffering from was a result of the condition of her spine, she just looked at me and asked, “How did this happen?”Fannie also had severe dental problems that had been ongoing for years. Her teeth were so bad that during the time I was seeing her, she actually had every last tooth (or what remained of them) pulled because they hurt her so much. She had to choose to live without teeth rather than with the pain her teeth were causing! She had a husband who loved her so much that he drove her back and forth to my office (65 miles roundtrip) so that she could get the care she needed. On more than one occasion she told me, “Oh, sweetie, if I had known this is how I’d be living at this point in my life, I would have done so many things differently!” And then she’d cry … and I would tear up as well. Here was this sweet woman who, aside from the loving family she had, was just living, not enjoying what life had to offer; but tolerating it until her time was done.Then, there was John, a patient of my husband’s. He was vibrant, friendly, a joy to be around and in his mid 90s. He lived on his own because his wife of 65 years had recently passed; he played a round of golf every day, not caring who he played with; he traveled the world visiting friends and family; and was enjoying his life to the fullest. He may not have stood as tall as he did in his younger days, he wasn’t as fast as he used to be and he used a pull cart every golf game instead of carrying his clubs; he never rode in a golf cart! John outlived just about all his peers and he had fun doing it.What was the difference between these two wonderful people? What would allow John the opportunity he had for his life but would cause Fannie to struggle so much in her later years? The answer lies in the choices they had made along the journey of their life – their lifestyle!Degeneration of your spine has nothing to do with age and everything to do with lifestyle. Healthier choices in diet, exercise, loving relationships, a healthy spine and nervous system (through chiropractic care) are all key ingredients to living a long and healthy life.So here’s my question to you: If you knew that you would live to be 80, 90 or even 100 years old, what would you change? What would you change so that you could live more like John and less like Fannie? Do you want to be sitting in a nursing home at the end of your life just waiting for it to be over? Or would you rather live life to its fullest knowing you did everything you could to enjoy the ride?Palmer Chiropracticwww.palmer-chiropractic.com719-494-1395
