Shigeaki Hinohara, the Japanese doctor who lived to be 105 (he died this past July 18th in Tokyo) was the founder of the “New Elderly Movement” and the author of 150 books, among them the best-selling “Living Long, Living Good”. 1
RELATED STORY:
In his wisdom, he offered up 14 pieces of sage advice for us to take should we desire a long, healthy and happy life. Check them out below:2
- Be fit: Every morning, Hinohara has a tablespoon of olive oil, orange juice, and coffee for breakfast. For lunch, he eats cookies, and milk and his dinner consists of rice, fish, and vegetables for dinner. Twice a week, he eats 100g of lean meat. Notice, he’s not consuming massive quantities of red meat every day.
- Do not believe everything your doctor recommends: Explore by yourself and do not rely on the advice of your doctors without being completely sure their proposal is the best solution. Such good advice, there is nothing wrong with doing your own research and getting a second opinion. Doctors are great but they aren’t god.
- Science alone cannot cure people: Dr. Hinohara believes every human being is a unique individual and maintains that liberal and visual arts can cure all illnesses.
4. Plan ahead: Live today like you plan to live tomorrow. You need to have a busy and plan all your next events, appointments, tasks, in life if you want to be successful. For instance, Dr. Hinohara was planning to attend the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
RELATED STORY:
- Pain is mysterious: To soothe pain, do something fun, like listening to music or play with the pets.
- Energy comes from positivity and happiness: This is advice I love! If you want to have more energy, don’t sleep the say away or spend it watching TV- get up and move!
- Be inspired: To be motivated and look forward, find an inspiration in life.
- Enjoy life: Dr. Hinohara enjoyed every moment of his life and happily served his community.
- Take the stairs and always carry your own stuff: Yes to the stairs! In fact, Hinohara was known to use the stairs and climb two steps at a time!
- Life is unpredictable and full of incidents, so stop worrying so much: Hinohara was taken by the communist Red Army when he was 59 years old and spent 4 days under 40-degree heat, handcuffed to his seat. He still wonders how was his body able to slow down in order to adapt to the deprivation. Unbelievable.
- Share your knowledge: Every year, Dr. Hinohara gives 150 lectures in schools, business communities, etc. and retells his own story, advises people, and speaks about peace and war. For most of his lectures, he stands for the duration- 90 minutes.
12. Do not be crazy for money: Keep the right perspective about stuff; we leave this world with nothing.
13. Find a role model: Having a role model, someone you can trust and go to when you need advice, is key. When Dr. Hinohara needs advice, he asks himself what his father would.
14. You don’t have to retire: If you love your work and are in good shape- there’s no need to stop!
RELATED STORY:
Such amazing advice from a man who lived to a full and happy 105 years of age.
What do you think about all his advice? Do you practice any of it already?
