Kelly's World | Live long and prosper (but mek others prosper too)

"It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts."

- Adlai E. Stevenson

Sometimes, I wonder about those people who talk about wanting to live longer.

Now let's be clear. I have no right to tell people what to do with their own existences, and even if I did, I wouldn't.

The Bible says you get three score and 10 and basically anything after that is brawta. So I can get if you want a little brawta.

But some people want to get to the big 100.

The question I ask is fi wha? Don't you go through enough punishment by the time you get to age 50? Why would you want to double it?

And don't think that I'm being a punk here. There was a time I thought that I wanted to live to be about 150 or even more.

Yeah man, long before I hit 30, I figured that it would be cool to live to such a great age.

I think I kinda believed that by the time I got to my current age, science would have come up with some great inventions and innovations that would make the average person live to around 130.

Alas, the average lifespan for the average human being is still below 80 years.

And sure, there has been plenty of new literature about what you should eat, what you shouldn't eat and how and where you should live.

But the more I've thought about it, the more I realise that you can live as long as you want, if you don't make the world a better place, even a little bit, then it nuh mek nuh sense.

 

List of Achievements

 

I know some people who, if they died right now, the list of things they would have achieved would be startling.

How much of those achievements actually assisted mankind is another matter, but at least they left a mark.

To be fair, I'm not sure if you can make a mark without making a positive contribution. Just seems like the two go hand in hand.

If you can make a difference in the lives of anyone, and not just family members, and happen to 'drop out' at let's say 65, I think you've done more than someone who lived to 95 and didn't help a soul.

I salute anyone who gets to see three figures in their lifetime. And Jamaica actually has a pretty decent record of having long livers being highlighted by the local and foreign media.

But I have some advice for all those who are trying to, as Jamaicans say, live 'til dem sun you'.

Instead of trying to outlive everyone else, why not try being nice to everyone? Why not try being helpful to someone? Why not try to leave your space (whatever it may be) better than when you found it?

By doing those things, I think you achieve peace of mind, and even a tough head like me knows that's good for your overall health and might add on a few years.

Later.

- Link me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com