This morning, while walking around the lake, I saw an old man sitting on a bench, struggling to tie his shoelaces.
When he finally did, he smiled and said softly,
“These days, being able to bend down and tie my shoes already feels like a blessing.”
I kept walking, but that sentence stayed with me.
How many things we once took for granted — breathing deeply, seeing clearly, walking freely — one day become miracles?
In my fifties, after years of living with diabetes and its complications, I learned the hard way:
Living longer is easy. Living well is the real challenge.
A book that changed how I see aging
One evening, I picked up a book by Harvard professor David Sinclair, titled Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To.
In it, he wrote something that stopped me in my tracks:
“Aging is not inevitable. It’s a disease — and it can be treated.”
We don’t age because time passes.
We age because the body forgets.
Dr. Sinclair explains that while our DNA stays mostly intact as we grow older, what fades away is the epigenetic information — the body’s memory of how to read that DNA correctly.
He compared it to a scratched DVD.
The movie (our DNA) is still there, but the player can no longer read it smoothly.
That’s why we age: not because the movie is gone, but because the system has forgotten how to play it.
And that’s when I smiled — because I’ve lived through that forgetting.
My body once forgot how to balance sugar, how to feel, how to heal.
But when I stopped interfering and started listening, it slowly remembered.
Maybe aging is not the end.
Maybe it’s just forgetting.
And healing… is remembering.
Stress — enemy or medicine?
Inside every cell, we have what scientists call longevity genes.
They only switch on when the body experiences mild stress — hunger, cold, or intense movement.
In short, to stay young, we must be challenged.
Here are three small habits that make a big difference:
1. Eat a little less
Not starving, just slightly hungry.
That small discomfort activates the body’s repair mode, cleaning out damaged cells and reducing inflammation.
Hippocrates already said it centuries ago:
“To eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.”
Today, science calls it intermittent fasting.
I just call it learning when to stop.
2. Eat mostly plants
Too much meat keeps the body “comfortable,” slowing down its survival mechanisms.
Vegetables, on the other hand, keep those ancient repair systems awake.
You don’t need to be a monk — just eat half as much meat, and you may gain years.
3. Move until you breathe hard
When your heart beats faster and breath deepens, your body believes it’s in survival mode.
That’s when it starts repairing, rebuilding, rejuvenating.
Regular exercise can literally lengthen your telomeres — the protective caps of your DNA — by nearly ten biological years.
Each evening, when I walk and feel my heart racing, I know I’m not getting older —
I’m simply keeping my movie playing.
From Harvard theory to real life
David Sinclair works to extend human lifespan.
I just want to extend my healthspan.
I don’t need to be younger.
I just want to keep seeing faces clearly, keep walking on my own feet, keep feeling peace in my heart.
And perhaps, that — not immortality — is what true longevity really means.
📘 Inspired by “Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To” by David Sinclair (Harvard University)
✍️ Written by Danny Dao – EarthQuiet
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