One of the best gifts you can give those you love is to live a long life, Yes, why not plan to be around for a while. Of course, none of us control the number of our days nor do we know how long we will live. But there are things we can do that are within our power that can add to the possibility of a longer … and a healthier life.
In many ways, life is like a room with two doors. We enter this room through the door of birth. We all know that date – it’s our ‘birth-day’. One day, our life will be over and we will leave through the door of death. Death is not something we like to talk about, although the death rate is running at about 100%.
This last week, my wife Nicole was the emcee for a friend’s dad’s funeral. He lived a good life, was loved by his family and friends, and was just a few months off age 90. On this day I had no official responsibilities – other than chauffeur and trophy husband. As I sat in the funeral service, I was reminded of the frailty and brevity of life. Sadly, many people don’t live to see 90 years of age.
None of us know when that second door will open – our date with death. However, there is a web site dedicated to helping you know your probable death date. It is called www.deathclock.com.
Apparently, I will live until Tuesday, August 7th, 2035. I’ll be 74 years of age. However, as I am classified as an ‘optimist’, I could live another 16 years until Sunday, September 17th, 2051. I’ll be almost 90 years old by then.
On the web site you can enter your various personal details and you can then check your death date. This is handy to know as you don’t want to schedule any appointments after this, as you won’t be there. All humour aside, the truth is none of us know when our time will be up.
In Australia where I live, a boy born in 2014–2016 can expect to live to the age of 80.4 years and a girl would be expected to live to 84.6 years compared to 47.2 and 50.8 years, respectively, in 1881–1890. Men aged 65 in 2014–2016 could expect to live another 19.6 years (an expected age at death of 84.6 years) and the life expectancy of women aged 65 in 2014–2016 was 22.3 years (an expected age at death of 87.3 years). [Source]
Many people today are living well beyond this, In 2015, the world was home to nearly half a million ‘centenarians’ (people aged 100 or over). This growth is expected to accelerate with projections suggesting there will be 3.7 million centenarians across the globe in 2050. [Source]
Amazingly, new research is now focused on the ‘super-centenarians’, people who are 110 years or older. In 2003, it was estimated that there were 300-450 such people alive. [Source] Today, there are four people alive who are 115 years of age (see list of the world’s oldest living people).
So what about you? Could you live to be over 100?
In part 2, we will learn some insights about people who do.
[Photo Source: KDA Consulting]