Hello to my beautiful, soulmates! On Sundays, we do poetry here at Adulting – Second Half. I write a poem or I share a poem by another poet and I strongly encourage you to share your poems in my Comments section. Sometimes sharing our poems, feels very vulnerable, because sometimes our poems bare our souls. Today, I am feeling light and silly and so my poem for today, reflects that mood. Poems are indeed good mirrors of our inner lives. If you find that you can’t journal every day, try jotting down a daily poem, even just a couple of lines. This practice will tell you a lot about yourself.
As I age, I look for role models, as I have done in every stage of my life. I look at people who seem to age well, and I wonder how to emulate their ability to age so healthfully, and so comfortably and delightfully. Betty White, Iris Apfel, and our neighbor Dave, are all people well past eighty, who look amazing, and still seem to buzz with energy and life, sometimes even more so than their younger peers.
To give you a glimpse of how my curious mind works, and how I even got to writing this particular blog post, I’ll let you know where it started. On Twitter this morning, someone posted a picture of Nat King Cole and his wife, Maria Cole. I found the picture of Maria to be absolutely stunning, so naturally, I looked up more information about her. Maria was also a talented musician, and she raised five children with Nat, until his early death in 1965. Maria went on to live until she was 89 years old. What initially struck me about Maria Cole’s picture, was her huge, radiant smile. It was a constant in almost all of her pictures.
My son once played on a team with another boy whose mother is striking. Granted, this woman is a natural beauty. She is probably about a decade older than me, but she seems to have almost a regality about her. I could never put my finger on why I found her to be so particularly stunning, in a sea of attractive soccer moms, to stand out like she did. Then one day, it occurred to me. Every time that I saw her, she was smiling. She is always smiling. She has a huge smile that is shown in every part of her being and it radiates. I remember thinking that you don’t need plastic surgery or vitamin infusions to remain lovely, as you age. Smiling does so much for anyone, even at the surface level of good looks.
With that being said, here is my poem for today:
The Prescription for Aging Beautifully
If you wish to live a long and happy life,
Peaceful, tranquil, with very little strife,
If a healthy centenarian, is what you wish to be,
With eyes which sparkle with wisdom, mischief and glee,
I have the magic potion, the elixir, the recipe.
Wait for it.
Here it is:
Smile. A lot. Every Single Day.
Just smile, smile, smile the day away.
Smile. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Science has just uncovered another benefit of a happy face. People who have big smiles live longer. (The Dallas Morning News)
One study found that just one smile can give you the immediate happiness of eating 2,000 bars of chocolate — without the stomachache. (Advent Health)
New research finds happier people live longer, on average, while angry ones are more likely to die early. (Pacific Standard)
A study from London University College stated that happy, cheerful people are 35% more likely to live longer. Smiling lowers the heart rate and reduces blood pressure, while relaxing your body. (RiverTea)
The study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who had higher levels of optimism had a longer life span. They also had a greater chance of living past age 85. (Harvard Medical School)
Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.