The other day, I saw a news article about a ninety year old lady who was still dancing despite her age. She hardly looked or acted her age and was clearly on her way to fulfilling National Geographic journalist Dan Buettner’s task of living to be over one hundred which he investigates in his speech “How to Live to be 100+”. In his speech, Buettner delves into what exactly extends life by looking into so called Blue Zones or “ areas where people are living to age one hundred at rates up to ten times greater than we are, areas where the life expectancy is an extra dozen years, the rate of middle age mortality is a fraction of what it is in this country”(Buettner 3). Buettner claims that living to be one hundred is not accomplished through things
…show more content…
Work gives the citizens a sense of purpose. Buettner describes purpose by utilizing the Okinawan word ikigai which translates to “the reason for which you wake up in the morning”(Buettner 6). He then illustrates it by pointing out three centenerians and their ikiagi: a 102-year-old karate master whose purpose was carrying forth his martial art, a hundred-year-old fisherman who still catches fish for his family, and a grandmother who holds her great-great-great granddaughter as her ikigai. The federal government census for Stafford, Virginia states that the civilian labor force over sixteen from 2010-2014 was 65.9%("Census"). The same census also puts the total number of employer establishments in 2013 at 2,114 with employment at 29,297("Census"). Stafford’s own website has an entire section dedicated to doing business. Citizen are not just employed locally, though. My own father commutes everyday to Washington D.C. for his job. He wakes every morning at five, dresses, and takes the long commute to his job in Washington. For my father, his job is his purpose just as jobs are the purpose for many of the citizens’ lives. Some may argue that not everyone in Stafford has a job. While that is true, those who do not are usually too young and therefore have a different purpose such as sports or school or the citizen is retired and has found purpose …show more content…
Citizens of Stafford are lucky to have numerous walking trails, parks, and other recreational facilities, all of which are used, that aid in this natural exercise. Dan Buettner describes natural exercise as “sett[ting] up their lives so that they are constantly nudged into physical activity” then states how Okinawan women get up and down off the ground all day because they sit on the floor(Buettner 9). While Stafford citizens do not find themselves constantly nudged, they do receive more nudging than most. The pools are in neighborhoods and are a good walking distance. A brand new walking trail connects my neighborhood to the newest neighborhood which features athletic fields, an olympic sized pool, parks, and more. People are more apt to walk or bike places because everything is so close and crowded parking lots limit parking for cars. Stafford features twenty parks alone with most containing trails(“Parks and Trails” 1). Opponents may say that going to a park is not really natural exercise but a choice. While going to a park is a choice, a citizen could choose to not exercise at all by just sitting on one of the benches, but most walk along the trails or just walk the park to enjoy the
Work gives the citizens a sense of purpose. Buettner describes purpose by utilizing the Okinawan word ikigai which translates to “the reason for which you wake up in the morning”(Buettner 6). He then illustrates it by pointing out three centenerians and their ikiagi: a 102-year-old karate master whose purpose was carrying forth his martial art, a hundred-year-old fisherman who still catches fish for his family, and a grandmother who holds her great-great-great granddaughter as her ikigai. The federal government census for Stafford, Virginia states that the civilian labor force over sixteen from 2010-2014 was 65.9%("Census"). The same census also puts the total number of employer establishments in 2013 at 2,114 with employment at 29,297("Census"). Stafford’s own website has an entire section dedicated to doing business. Citizen are not just employed locally, though. My own father commutes everyday to Washington D.C. for his job. He wakes every morning at five, dresses, and takes the long commute to his job in Washington. For my father, his job is his purpose just as jobs are the purpose for many of the citizens’ lives. Some may argue that not everyone in Stafford has a job. While that is true, those who do not are usually too young and therefore have a different purpose such as sports or school or the citizen is retired and has found purpose …show more content…
Citizens of Stafford are lucky to have numerous walking trails, parks, and other recreational facilities, all of which are used, that aid in this natural exercise. Dan Buettner describes natural exercise as “sett[ting] up their lives so that they are constantly nudged into physical activity” then states how Okinawan women get up and down off the ground all day because they sit on the floor(Buettner 9). While Stafford citizens do not find themselves constantly nudged, they do receive more nudging than most. The pools are in neighborhoods and are a good walking distance. A brand new walking trail connects my neighborhood to the newest neighborhood which features athletic fields, an olympic sized pool, parks, and more. People are more apt to walk or bike places because everything is so close and crowded parking lots limit parking for cars. Stafford features twenty parks alone with most containing trails(“Parks and Trails” 1). Opponents may say that going to a park is not really natural exercise but a choice. While going to a park is a choice, a citizen could choose to not exercise at all by just sitting on one of the benches, but most walk along the trails or just walk the park to enjoy the