The logs that I had delivered on Friday were magic.
They will heat me twice.
The first time they heated me was when I moved them from the front of the house to the back and stacked them like I was Swiss! For that hour and a half I was very warm indeed! And the second time will be when I burn them and sit cosily watching as they are slowly consumed in the log burner, the tongues of flame releasing their energy into the room.
But there is another thing that struck me as I spent that time moving and stacking the logs. The logs had another bit of magic too.
If you look at the places where people live the longest there is a surprising realisation: Most of these places are not typical western cities. They are instead places where the pace and the complexity of life are lower. Places like Okinawa in Japan, Ikaria in Greece or Nicoya in Costa Rica.
These are places where the focus of life is on simplicity and connection. The number one secret to long life is community. Having family and friends and a sense of belonging.
But there are other common threads too.
For example, none of the places where people live the longest have a modern, state-of-the-art gym full of the latest equipment and high-tech monitoring. Instead, to the people who live in these places, movement and exercise are just part and parcel of day to day life. They walk to the store for food. They chop wood. They dig the garden. This ‘natural’ exercise keeps them supple and healthy way better than any Peloton gizmo!
We don’t need to drive to a gym and spend an hour on an exercise bike to look after ourselves. We just have to do the simple things that our ancestors did in order to look after themselves and their families on a purely day to day basis.
Walk. Chop. Stack.
Simply magic!
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