Today’s post is a lovely one, sent to me by my colleague Souldancer.  As I share today’s post I am reminded of London’s recent decision to hold a ‘stop and smell the roses’ sort of day.

My post today includes an article about a physician from Tokyo who has been sharing his wisdom on living a long and happy life.  It seems he may know a few things about the topic:  he’s almost 98 years old and still working!

I hope you will take a few moments to read the article.  It gave me pause as I considered ‘common’ medical wisdom.  This 98 year old physician makes some ‘extraordinary ordinary’ suggestions worth considering.

For me, the biggest ‘golden nuggets’ or my takeaways based on the doc’s article (and life) is to stay busy and active doing what you love – mentally, physically, socially, etc.  Keep your mind and body engaged in life.  And, eat less and move more.

I also want to add that, of course, the views (and suggestions) expressed here are the doc’s not mine.  I wonder what other events doc didn’t mention that led to his living this long, ones he may not even be aware of.  Certainly the impact of genes are important.  Ultimately, I think the best context to take the doc’s suggestion are to ‘look for the clues’ here.

I think in total it’s probably a ‘mystery’ (or perhaps better stated, it’s a unique combination of the interaction of a multitude of factors) that explains why some of us live to be 98 like this doc.  Look for example, at his diet.  He’s probably following a diet quite similar to the one Dr. Mahmet Oz refers to in his suggestions about diet and eating.

This doc didn’t spend most of his life eating ‘fast food’ I’ll bet!  Having said all of that, it is interesting to mull over true stories like this one for the possible ideas we can try ourselves!

I’d also suggest you consider evaluating the level of satisfaction you are feeling and the competence you have available to you in your own health care.  For example, do you have a great, consistent relationship with at least one physician you trust?  If you do at least see a doctor on some regular basis, do you need to increase that?  Do you talk with your doc about what he or she recommends for you?

Because today’s health care is so costly and because many of us rely heavily on the internet for information, many of us may be doing more ‘self diagnosis and treatment’ than we should. For example, consider the growth of the vitamin and supplement industry.  Many times people are taking so-called ‘natural’ supplements that may be actually dangerous to them.  Or, they may be wasting their money.

So, before you take supplements that aren’t prescribed to you for prevention or treatment, be sure to tell your doctor what you are thinking about and get his or her opinion on that supplement(s). Ultimately, yes, it’s your right to do what you want with your body.  But, you would be wise to get a well rounded set of opinions from health professionals you trust before you change your routine.

I define a health care professional as someone who is…

• trained in the problem or concern you have
• experienced in the particular concern, illness, or problem you have
• a member of a reputable professional association related to his/her area of practice
• licensed to practice in the state you live in

Why are these things important? While incompetent providers can and do sometimes meet all of the above criteria, it is more likely you will get a minimum standard of care and safety when your providers meet the above minimums.  You still have to be an assertive patient when receiving care at all times.  That’s why I like Dr. Oz’s suggestion everyone have a ‘health advocate’.

How about you?  Post your thoughts right here on Coach Sappho’s blog!

Author/physician Shigeaki Hinohara
By JUDIT KAWAGUCHI

At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world’s longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara’s magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke’s College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation’s top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations.

Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one “Living Long, Living Good” that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.

Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.We all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we often forgot to eat or sleep. I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too. It’s best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.

All people who live long — regardless of nationality, race or gender — share one thing in common: None are overweight. For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on my work. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat.

Always plan ahead. My schedule book is already full until 2014, with lectures and my usual hospital work. In 2016 I’ll have some fun, though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!

There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100.

Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.

When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can’t cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery? I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.

To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.

My inspiration is Robert Browning’s poem “Abt Vogler.” My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch; the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.

Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. If a child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or she immediately forgets the pain. Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke’s we have music and animal therapies, and art classes.

Don’t be crazy about amassing material things. Remember: You don’t know when your number is up, and you can’t take it with you to the next place.

Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St. Luke’s so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought I was crazy to prepare for a catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one person, but we saved 739 lives.

Science alone can’t cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.

Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the body slowed down in a crisis.

Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at Duke University in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes. Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask myself how they would deal with the problem.

It’s wonderful to live long. Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one’s family and to achieve one’s goals. But in our later years, we should strive to contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a volunteer. I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every minute of it.