At 65 , I Committed To These 5 Daily Habits , Now I Am 99 And Still Thriving
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I've been on this earth for 94 years now. And when you stay
around that long, you start seeing things a little differently than most
people. You notice patterns, things that repeat themselves in people's lives.
And I'm going to tell you something that may surprise you a bit. Living a long
life usually isn't about all the new things you start doing.
Most of the time it
comes down to the things you finally decide to stop. Now that may sound strange
[music] at first. These days everybody's always asking the same question. What
should I add to my [music] routine? What new habit should I start? What new
trick will help me live longer? But from where I'm sitting, after almost a
century of watching [music] people live and die, the real difference shows up
when a person [music] finally lets go of the things that have been quietly
harming them for years.
My name is Walter Hayes, and over these many years, I've
said goodbye to a lot of people I loved. my mother, my father, two brothers, my
wife, and more old friends than I can count anymore. [music] At a certain age,
you realize something. You end up attending far more funerals than birthday
parties.
And after standing
beside enough graves, a [music] man begins to pay attention. A long time ago, I
noticed something about the people who left this world earlier than they should
have. It usually wasn't just bad luck, and it wasn't always some terrible
disease. More often than not, it was habits, small everyday habits they held on
to, even when those habits were slowly wearing their bodies down.
So today, I want to share a few things I stopped doing many
years ago. And I truly believe those changes are part of the reason I'm still
sitting here talking to you. Now, I'd like you to listen closely, because one
of these things might be happening in your own life right now [music] without
you even realizing it.
The first thing I stopped doing [music] was eating late at
night. Now, I know that probably sounds old-fashioned, [music] and maybe it is,
but sometimes the old ways stick around because they actually [music] work.
When I was a young boy, my grandfather used to say something simple. He'd say,
"Son, the body likes to rest when the sun goes down.
" Back then, I didn't pay much attention like most
young people. I figured the older generation didn't know what they were talking
about. For years, I'd eat dinner in the evening. Then later on, I'd sit down in
front of the television. Before long, I'd grab something else to snack on.
[music] Maybe a few crackers, maybe bowl of ice cream.
Nothing too big, just
a little something while [music] watching the evening shows. It didn't seem
like a big deal at the time, but over the years, I started noticing something.
I began waking up feeling tired. My joints felt stiff in the mornings, and
sometimes I carried this strange heaviness through the day. It took me a long
time to realize what was causing it.
Then, about 40 years
ago, I remembered what my grandfather used to say. [music] So, I decided to try
something different. I stopped eating late. These days, my final meal usually
happens around 6:00 in the evening, sometimes closer to 7 during the summer
when daylight lasts longer. After that, nothing but water or maybe a cup of
tea.
[music] No snacks, no
late night eating. And something interesting happened. Within a few weeks, my
mornings felt different. I woke up clearer. My body [music] felt lighter. My
sleep felt deeper. You see, your body does a lot of its repair work while
you're asleep. Quiet work inside your organs and cells. But it can't focus on
that repair if it's still busy digesting food.
It's like trying to
clean a house while dinner is still cooking in the kitchen. The body prefers to
finish its work before resting. Once I understood that, I never went back to
late night eating again. Now, [music] the second thing I stopped doing, this
one took me a long time to learn. I [music] stopped arguing with people who
have no interest in listening.
[clears throat] When I was younger, I had a bit [music] of a
temper. If somebody said something foolish or stubborn or [music] clearly
wrong, I felt like it was my responsibility to correct them, I would [music]
jump into the discussion and start explaining things. I wanted them to
understand my point.
And if I'm being
honest, I wanted to win the argument. But you know what? All that arguing
actually gave me headaches, stress, long nights lying awake [music] replaying
conversations in my head and not a single changed opinion. Not one. Because the
truth is, people tend to believe what they already want to believe. And trying
to force someone to change your thinking [music] is usually a waste of energy.
It's like trying to
empty the ocean using a teaspoon. You'll wear yourself out and the ocean won't
notice. These days, when someone says something that once would have made my
blood [music] boil, I simply smile. Maybe nod my head. Then I [music] move on. Not
because I agree, but because protecting my peace matters more than winning an
argument. That isn't weakness.
That's something you
learn after watching how stress can slowly destroy [music] a person's health.
Peace of mind is one of the most valuable things a man can protect. Every
argument you choose not to have saves you a little energy and maybe even
[music] a little time on this earth. The third thing [music] I stopped doing
was sitting all day.
Now, I'm not talking
about exercise [music] programs or gyms. I've never been the kind of man who
spends hours lifting weights. What I'm talking about is simple movement using
your body throughout the day. My wife used [music] to joke that chairs are
comfortable traps. And there's some truth in that. It's easy to sit for hours
without realizing how long you've been still watching television, reading,
scrolling through things.
But the body was
designed to move. These days, I make sure I stay active in small ways. I walk
down the driveway to check the mailbox. I spend time in the garden. Sometimes I
stand up while talking on the phone. Simple things, [music] but they keep the
body awake. I've always thought of the body like a stream of water.
When water keeps
moving, it stays clean. But when water sits still for too long, it becomes
cloudy, [music] slow, unhealthy. Our bodies work the same way. Movement [music]
keeps things flowing. And I don't care whether someone is 30 years old or 80
years old. If a person spends [music] most of their day sitting still, they're
quietly speeding up the aging process. That's just the truth.
Now the next thing I [music] stopped doing, this one took
many years for me to understand. I stopped carrying grudges and that one nearly
took the best years of my life. Now the next thing I had to learn [music] the
hard way, it took me many years before I finally understood it. I stopped
carrying grudges. And that one nearly took the best years of my life.
There was a time in my life when I held on to anger like it
was something valuable, like it proved I had been wronged. Many years ago, I
had a younger brother named Daniel. We grew up together. Same house, same
table, same backyard. When we were boys, we did [music] everything side by
side. fishing trips, baseball in the street, getting into [music] trouble, our
father had to straighten out.
But somewhere along
the road of adulthood, something happened between us. Money was involved.
Family disagreements, words that should never have been said. And the kind of
hurt that comes from family, well, that kind of [music] pain sticks deeper than
anything else. For years after that, I refused [music] to speak to him.
If someone mentioned
his name, I would change the subject. If we ended up in the same room at a
family gathering, I'd walk the other [music] direction. And I told myself I was
justified. But one day, something dawned on me. While I was carrying around all
that anger, he was living his life just fine. sleeping at night, laughing with
his children, going about his days.
The grudge wasn't
hurting him. It was sitting inside my own chest, wearing me [music] down.
Bitterness has a strange way of living inside the body. It tightens the
muscles. It keeps the [music] mind restless. Doctors will tell you about stress
hormones and [music] blood pressure and all sorts of medical terms. But an old
man like me will tell you something simpler.
Holding anger for
years is like slowly swallowing poison and hoping the other person feels sick.
[cough] One afternoon, [music] after nearly a decade of silence, I picked up
the phone. I remember my hand shaking just a little. When he answered, I didn't
give a long speech. I just said [music] a few simple words.
I think we both
carried this long enough. There was a long pause on the other end. Then I heard
him take a breath. And just like that, something heavy between [music] us
started to disappear. We never spend hours picking apart the past. Sometimes
forgiveness doesn't [music] need a courtroom. Sometimes it just needs two
people willing to stop carrying the weight.
When I hung up the phone that day, I felt lighter than I had
in years. And that's when I [music] realized something important. Your body
cannot fully heal while your heart is still holding on to old wounds. Ah, the
next thing I stopped doing, [music] this one took a lifetime to understand. I
stopped watching the news before going to bed.
Now, don't misunderstand [music] me. Staying informed is
fine, but there came a point when I noticed something. Every night, the
television seemed to bring the same things into [music] my living room.
Violence, arguments, fear, people shouting at each other across a screen. Then
I would turn the lights off and try to fall asleep with all that noise still
spinning around inside my head.
It took me a while to
realize how much that was affecting my rest. Your mind needs quiet [music]
before sleep, but if the last thing you feed it is worry, anger, and chaos,
well, that's what it spends the whole night chewing on. These days, [music] I
turn the television off early in the evening, around 5 or 6 most nights.
After that, I keep
things simple. Sometimes I read a few pages [music] of a book. Sometimes I sit
on a porch and watch the sun settle down behind the trees. Sometimes I just
listen to the quiet. Those small peaceful moments prepare the mind for rest.
[music] And I sleep better now than I did 20 years ago.
Eight solid hours
most nights. People pay a lot of attention to what they put into their bodies,
but very few people pay [music] attention to what they put into their minds
before sleep. Both matter. Not a six thing I stopped doing. This one took
[music] a lifetime to understand. I stopped trying to make everyone happy. For
most of my younger years, I was the kind of man who said yes [music] to
everything.
If someone needed
help moving furniture, I was there. If the church needed volunteers, I signed
up. If a neighbor wanted to talk for hours, I would sit and listen. And for a
long time, I believed that [music] was the right thing to do. Helping people is
good. But somewhere along the way, I realized something. I was always busy, yet
I rarely felt peaceful.
I was always giving
my time yet I often felt exhausted because when you say yes to everyone [music]
eventually you start saying no to yourself. Your time disappears. Your energy
fades and little by little you become worn thin. One day [music] a friend of
mine said something that stuck with me. He said, "Walter, the people who
truly care about you will respect your limits.
" That simple sentence changed the way I lived. Now
when someone asks for something I cannot give, I answer kindly. But sometimes
the answer is simply no. And that's all right. Protecting your time and energy
is not selfish. It's necessary because the people who genuinely [music] care
about you will understand.
And the ones who
don't understand, well, many of them were simply taken advantage of your
kindness in the first place. Now, the last thing I stopped doing, this one may
be the most important of all. I stopped waiting to live my [music] life. When I
was younger, I always believed happiness was somewhere ahead of me.
I told myself,
"I'll relax once work slows down. I'll enjoy life once the kids are grown.
I'll travel when retirement finally comes. There was always some moment in the
future where I believed life would begin, but life doesn't really work that
way. While you're busy waiting for the perfect moment, time keeps moving.
My wife and I once talked for nearly 30 years about taking a
long trip out west. We wanted to see the mountains in Colorado, drive along the
coast in [music] California. It was always something we planned to do someday.
She [music] passed away 3 months before that trip ever happened. And that's
when the truth finally hit me.
Waiting can quietly
steal years from your life. We assume tomorrow will always arrive, but tomorrow
is never guaranteed to anyone. Not to a man who is 94 and not to someone who's
25. If there's [music] something you've been wanting to do, don't keep pushing
it further down the road. Tell [music] people you love them while you still
have the chance.
Visit the places
you've [music] been dreaming about. Enjoy the small moments that show up in
ordinary days because life doesn't begin at some [music] future date on a
calendar. Life is happening right now whether we notice it or not. So there you
have it. [music] Seven things I stopped doing over the years. And I truly
believe letting go of those habits helped keep me here this long.
I stopped [music]
eating late at night. I stopped wasting energy arguing with stubborn people. I
stopped sitting around all day. I stopped carrying old grudges. I stopped
filling my mind with noise before sleep. I stopped trying to please everyone.
And finally, I stopped waiting for life to begin.
None of those changes
are complicated, but simple doesn't always mean easy. Every day you have to
choose the habits that shape your life. And I've watched far too many good
people leave this world earlier than they should have, not because life was
unfair, [music] but because they held on to things that were quietly damaging
them.
Don't let that happen
to you. You probably have more control over your health and your time than you
realize. But sometimes the greatest change begins with a simple [music]
decision to stop. Now, if you'll excuse me, that evening sun is starting to
settle outside my porch. [music] And at 94 years old, I've learned not to miss
a good sunset.
