You have everything you need to be healthy, fit, strong, flexible, mobile and independent, already within you. Whether you are 55, 85, or somewhere in between, you already have all you need to stay young, vital and healthy. You are your own Fountain of Youth.
How do you find it? Look within, it’s already there. Just start drinking from it.
How do you drink from it? I covered the five ways two weeks ago in the post titled No Lectures, but once again, here are the five keys to your own Fountain of Youth.
- How you move
- How/what you eat
- How you breathe
- How well you rest and recover
- How you Think!
I’ve said for years that if you don’t move your body the way nature intended it to move, your body will quickly deteriorate. Your muscles will atrophy, your bones will become porous and brittle, your circulation will stagnate, you will lose your lung power, and your hinges will become rusty and creaky. If you don’t fuel your body with high octane fuel, your engine will cough and sputter and eventually break down and leave you helpless. If you don’t breathe fully and deeply, you won’t fill your body with the life supporting oxygen it needs to survive. If you don’t get enough rest and sleep, you will become a walking zombie. And if you don’t have a Come Alive Attitude toward life, your quality of life will deteriorate as well. That’s not a very enticing future, is it?
Chris Crowley, author of the excellent book, Younger Next Year says that seventy percent of the effects that we attribute to aging can be prevented. Only thirty percent of aging’s effects are biological. That means that you have complete control of seventy percent of your health. It means that the Fountain of Youth is yours for the taking if you choose to find it and drink from it. It’s all about exercise, eating right, breathing deeply, and getting enough rest and sleep. And, of course, it all starts with the way you’re thinking. The bottom line is that you already have everything you need to drink from your own fountain of youth, but it’s entirely up to you to do it. By the way, I highly recommend the book. It’s easy to read and makes sense.
That fountain of youth is also restorative, just like Ponce de Leon believed. Even if you think you are past the ability to restore yourself, and even if you are in your seventies or eighties, research has demonstrated that starting with small sips from the fountain can start the restoration process and get you started back on the path to health and fitness. Studies done at Tufts University as far back as the 1980s showed that a group of men ages 60 to 72, were able to reverse the loss of muscle mass in their legs and double their strength over a 12 week period (that’s week as in 7 days). It’s never too late.
So, locate that Fountain of Youth within yourself and start drinking from it. You will look better, feel better, become filled with health and energy, and dramatically improve your quality of life as you move through the rest of it. I’ll drink (from the fountain) to that.
Stay healthy and thanks for reading.