Ted Kennedy's 10,000 Days

He was the youngest of nine children, the last of four boys.
Edward Kennedy was never supposed to be the leader of a large, powerful political family.
But he before he was a teen-ager, his eldest brother, Joseph Kennedy Jr., was killed in World War Two.
Before he was 30, his next oldest brother, President John Kennedy, was assassinated.
And when he was 36, his only surviving brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, was also gunned down.
The following year, a woman he was with late at night drowned after Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge in Massachusetts.
Because of that accident, he didn’t run for president in 1972 or 1976. In 1980, he tried to unseat the incumbent Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, but lost after a hard-fought primary battle.
Ted Kennedy lived almost exactly 10,000 days after that bitter defeat.
Those final years got off to a rough start. He and his first wife divorced. There were rumors of alcoholism and womanizing. His son, Teddy Jr., lost a leg to cancer. All as the Massachusetts senator was turning 50.
A lesser man would have thrown in the towel. A weaker man would have continued his downhill slide.
Not Ted Kennedy. A spark somewhere inside him was lit. Through the darkness of death, defeat, divorce and despair, a light shone through. And Ted Kennedy saw his path.
He didn’t run for president in 1984. Nor did he toss his hat into the ring in 1988.
Senator Ted Kennedy decided he didn’t need the presidency. He realized he could do more good as a senator. As a father. As an uncle. As a grandfather. And, yes, as a husband to new his new wife, Vicki.
Ted Kennedy became the lion of the U. S. Senate. He led the charge for health-care reform, a cause that appears on the edge of victory. But he was much more than a single-issue legislator.
Senator Kennedy wrote more than 300 bills that became law. Among them was legislation that helped senior citizens, the disabled and the poor.
He was a man who was strong and consistent in his liberal beliefs. But he also knew how to reach across the aisle and make friends with people like Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.
He became someone to admire. He was an idol to Vice President Joe Biden and a source of inspiration for President Barack Obama.
Ted Kennedy became a leader of the Democratic Party and, most importantly, he became the revered patriarch of a powerful political family.
Edward Kennedy… the ninth of nine children, a man who staring down the abyss when he was 48… made the most of his final 10,000 days.
What are you going to do with yours?

The Blue Zones

If you want to save the environment, go green.
If you want to live a long life, go blue.
That’s the message behind the “Blue Zones Vitality Project,” a research program funded by the United Health Foundation.
Their activities and findings are highlighted in this month’s AARP magazine.
The project’s scientists are studying regions of the world where people live long, healthy lives. They call these places “Blue Zones.”
Researchers say people in these regions share four main traits:
*They eat a healthy, plant-based diet
*They have an active lifestyle
*They have a clear sense of purpose
*They develop strong social networks
One such place is the Greek island of Ikaria. Residents there have been somewhat isolated from the rest of the world for centuries and have developed their own style of living.
They eat a lot of greens, they drink herbal tea, they nap daily, they don’t stress over deadlines, they walk to most of their destinations, they drink goat’s milk, they use a lot of uncooked olive oil and they eat a Mediterranean diet of fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
The result?
One in three Ikarians lives past the age of 90. That’s compared to one in nine Baby Boomers in the United States who are expected to reach that milestone.
Ikarians also have 20 percent fewer cases of cancer, half as many cases of heart disease and one-ninth as many people with diabetes as the United States. There’s also virtually no one in Ikaria over the age of 90 with Alzheimer’s. In the United States, more than 40 percent of people in that age group suffer from that disease.
Baby Boomers should take note. We can learn a lot from the “Blue Zone” studies and what we do with that knowledge can benefit not only us but our society as well.
First, Baby Boomers have now hit middle age and are streaking toward their elder years. Physical ailments are upon us.
After age 50, the human body tends to lose muscle mass and bone density. The five senses also decline as do growth hormones.
We can’t stop this downhill slide, but we certainly can slow it down by adopting some of the habits of the Ikarians. It will not only provide us with a longer life but a healthier and more active one, too.
Changing our eating, exercise and social practices also sets a good example for the rest of our society. As the largest portion of the U.S. population, we can have quite an impact through example.
That change can’t come too soon. Recent research indicates two-thirds of our country is overweight. Nearly a third of the population is obese and the trend is on rise.
Our unhealthy diet and lifestyle isn’t just bad for individuals. It’s bad for the country as a whole. If nothing else, we are going to bankrupt our health-care system if we don’t change our ways.
So, once again, I urge my fellow Baby Boomers to use their next 10,000 days to have an impact on our nation’s health. As we age, try eating a little less and eating a little better food. Exercising a little more wouldn’t hurt. Try to walk like an Ikarian. You might like it.
We can do ourselves and our country a big favor.
As we start to turn gray, let’s also turn a shade of blue.