The world's oldest man has died at the age of 114.
Walter lived in Great Falls, Montana and had done the above interview last October. It was a pretty interesting read on his life and his philosophies. He didn't necessarily live this grand life that we think someone that old should. He worked for the railroad for 50 years! I can't imagine not only having a job quite that long but at the same place. He was married, but his wife died in 1957. They never had kids and he never remarried. To me is seems like it would be a lonely life - but he didn't mind and had his own philosophy on life. When asked his secrets to his long life his responses were:
- Embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. ("Every change is good.")
- Eat two meals a day ("That's all you need.")
- Work as long as you can ("That money's going to come in handy.")
- Help others ("The more you do for others, the better shape you're in.")
He also said that the hardest part is a lesson he learned from his grandfather: Accept death.
"We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," he said.
Pretty basic things. There was no - eat 5 servings of fruit and veggies, or run 2 miles a day. But more basic like help others and accept change. While I know good nutrition and exercise is very important I also believe that you can gain so much more by focusing on those around you.
None of us know how long we will be on this earth. Even if we seem to be doing everything right, sometimes life just happens and we get down or frustrated and don't understand what it is all about. I found a little booklet I had received the other day that starts out:
"it's not about you. The purpose of our life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose."
I read that and thought that it was a bit harsh, makes it sound like what I want or desire doesn't matter. But I think what the author is trying to get at is that we are alive because of God (yes because of our parents) but God knew each and every one of us before we were even conceived. Yes - before we were conceived. I just get chills ever time I think about that. We are loved so much by God that He knows every single thought and dream and fear that we have, He knows what we do each and every second of our life. And He knows He created us for a purpose. All we need to do is to draw close to Him and submit our life to Him so that we can live the way we were created to.
Sometimes that is a lot harder said than done. We all want to be able to provide for ourselves and do things ourselves and are afraid to ask or admit we need help. But we can't give up because even if we don't understand, He does.
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