Fauja Singh was born in India in 1911. He was a farmer in the Punjab until he moved to Britain in the 1960s, already at his 50s. There are lots of things that are amazing about this man. First of foremost he is still alive and reached his 100th year. 11 years ago, when he was 89 years old, after his wife and son died, he decided to take on running! Yes, at 89!
Some years later, last week, he finished a marathon run in Toronto! He is the oldest man EVER to have done this at his age! I’m not sure what most (alive) people who are 100 years old do in their everyday life but they surely don’t run 10 miles a day training!
According to the article:
He puts his stamina down to ginger curry, tea and "being happy".
Mr Singh said: "The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free. Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running."
I will give ginger curry and tea some more credit but I’m not sure how easy it is to stay stress free! I wanted to add to this sentence ‘at the times we’re living in’ but this is all bull. Yes, there are problems like the recession and the environmental threat but you can’t claim that the times are generally worse than before. People during the cold war feared that the world would end with a nuclear blast and earlier there were quite a few World Wars to keep them occupied. There were always problems…
There’s a Greek expression which translates to ‘write them/him/her/it on your testicles’ which basically means ‘ignore them/him/her/it’. I’m not sure exactly how it started but it is widely used. The ‘testicles’ word can be ignored and people do say in a dismissing tone: ‘Just write him’ or ‘he has him written’. Mr Singh reminded me of this expression. Some things need to be written on our testicles to live a happier life…
So, Fauja did it when he was 100, what's your / my excuse?
Some years later, last week, he finished a marathon run in Toronto! He is the oldest man EVER to have done this at his age! I’m not sure what most (alive) people who are 100 years old do in their everyday life but they surely don’t run 10 miles a day training!
According to the article:
He puts his stamina down to ginger curry, tea and "being happy".
Mr Singh said: "The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free. Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running."
I will give ginger curry and tea some more credit but I’m not sure how easy it is to stay stress free! I wanted to add to this sentence ‘at the times we’re living in’ but this is all bull. Yes, there are problems like the recession and the environmental threat but you can’t claim that the times are generally worse than before. People during the cold war feared that the world would end with a nuclear blast and earlier there were quite a few World Wars to keep them occupied. There were always problems…
There’s a Greek expression which translates to ‘write them/him/her/it on your testicles’ which basically means ‘ignore them/him/her/it’. I’m not sure exactly how it started but it is widely used. The ‘testicles’ word can be ignored and people do say in a dismissing tone: ‘Just write him’ or ‘he has him written’. Mr Singh reminded me of this expression. Some things need to be written on our testicles to live a happier life…
So, Fauja did it when he was 100, what's your / my excuse?
I saw this - couldn't believe it!
ReplyDeleteahoj
i agree about the positive attitude, and the tea!
ReplyDeleteAnd continually learning new things.
Amazing man!
ReplyDeleteNot sure I understand the testicles thing though.
Word!
ReplyDelete@MadeInScotland. You think it's fake?
ReplyDelete@Ur-Spo Continually learning new things is the best I think. :-)
@Stephen Chapman. Just forget the whole testicle thing... It's a bit silly. I don't know why I brought it up
@Luuworld respect
ReplyDeleteA very Buddhist philosophy actually. Smart man.
ReplyDelete@cb he might be...
ReplyDelete