When I applied to spend two years as a volunteer teacher in Nigeria, my professor asked about my background. As soon as I started telling him, he said,“ Stop! You can go.” When I was dropped off at my new home, I was told,“ If I find out you are killing cockroaches with a machete, we are sending you home!” For two years, I existed on food directly from the local market. I was very healthy except for the three parasites I unwittingly brought home!
I think learning to maintain an active lifestyle and live on a small amount of highly nutritious food while still maintaining a high energy level was my superpower for over thirty-five years. I had no time to watch movies and did not own a television for ten years after I left home. Unfortunately, with marriage, children, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate addiction, movies, menopause, and the aging process, I slowly abandoned my ultra-healthy lifestyle, and now I have the same aches and pains and weight problems as many of my friends. Sometimes I look back and wonder. If I had maintained my healthy lifestyle, could I have lived to be the same age as Jeanne Calment? Would I want to live that long? I think we can all agree— there is no going back. I am still trying to make changes but will they be enough? The only thing I can do now is imagine!
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